CALL IT VROOM & BOARD
Brooklynite builds a bedroom for her van
Some people live in vans. This Bushwick woman built a home for hers.
Jean Chandler, 35, is so in love with her 1967 Ford Falcon Club Wagon that she moved into a garage and built a wooden loft around it — so they could live together.
“It’s like my little puppy. I constantly obsess about it,” Chandler said as she lounged in the back seat of the forest-green van — which she has named Bellflower. “Creating a special place for my van to live with me is my way of living the van life in New York City.”
Born on Instagram in 2012, “van life” — or #vanlife — is a social-media term used to de- scribe the free-spirited, vagabond lifestyle that comes with living in a camper or converted vehicle. Nearly 2 million Instagram posts have the hashtag.
A native of Iron Mountain, Mich., Chandler moved into the 40-by-12-foot garage on Varick Avenue last summer, trading her comfortable one-bedroom apartment in Williamsburg for the then-spartan space after growing tired of shelling out $500 per month for her van’s parking spot.
“This place makes all things possible. It’s the absolute best of many worlds,” said Chandler, who works as an interior designer in Manhattan.
“At first, I didn’t think it’d be possible to find what I wanted, but I held out hope,” said Chandler, who keeps Bellflower in mint condition.
When she’s ready to take her four-wheeled roomie out for a spin, Chandler pushes it out the automatic garage door before starting the engine.
“A lot of fumes get spit out of these old carbureted cars upon startup,” she explained.
Chandler rents the white-concrete garage, which was previously used to store cleaning supplies for a neighboring apartment building. She wouldn’t say what she pays in rent, but onebedrooms at the loft complex go for $2,000 a month.
Chandler slept in her van for two months before rounding up four friends to build a 12-by-18foot loft out of wood held together with metal bolts.
A ladder leads up to a tastefully designed overhead loft big enough for a queen-size bed, a few racks of clothes, a small desk and plenty of plants.
Chandler’s beloved vehicle is parked right underneath.
She completed her abode with a small kitchenette, equipped with two countertop burners and a mini-fridge adorned with her van’s Falcon logo, and a small bathroom with a metal sink shower.
Overall, the project cost about $1,500.
“It’s beyond my wildest dreams that this could happen,” the single Brooklynite said. “I can travel and go camping whenever I want.”
Chandler has a van-filled history. She grew up in a family of mechanics with three campers that they often took on trips.
“My parents lived in a converted school bus for two years and always kept it in our yard,” said Chandler, who has lived in New York for eight years. “It only makes sense that I continue the lifestyle.”
Chandler began dreaming of the van life two years ago and snapped up the camper for $10,000 in California. It was love at first sight. “I saw it and was like, ‘That’s my van,’ ” she recalled. “I had to have it.”
She and Bellflower have been inseparable ever since.
“People sometimes say it’s ‘weird’ the way I live,” Chandler said. “But I’m just following my inner compass.”