ASHFIELD — Some people like to rebuild antique cars, clocks, or houses, but Jessica Glover and her husband, Doug Luce, caught a different renovation bug.
They’re currently rebuilding a 13-foot vintage camper in their garage.
It all started when Glover, an Ashfield resident, traveled all over the Northeast for work, and only had a small pickup truck. She became interested in getting a small camper and making it habitable so she could travel more comfortably.
She bought the camper for $500, but then her job changed. She wasn’t away from home for long enough, so it sat for awhile.
“We definitely bought it with the intention of doing some work to it,” she said.
When Glover first bought the camper, it was in decent condition “at face value,” but the previous owner had done some repairs, in which they put up new wooden panels to cover up water damage. While at first glance it didn’t look so bad to Glover, it wasn’t going to do.
Last spring, Glover noticed that the camper had damage from termites and mice. Naturally, she thought, “I’ll just tear down this one wall and fix it.”
Then, she took down another wall.
And another.
“One thing led to another,” Glover said, chuckling. “(You figure) you got this far, so you might as well keep going.”
Soon enough, the couple was fully involved in restoring the entire camper, walls and all.
The couple typically sets aside Sunday afternoons to renovate the camper together. But it’s not just a two-person job. Glover says they often invite friends over to help.
While Glover isn’t certain of the specific type of camper, she says it’s a small, mid-1960s Yellowstone that’s 13 feet in length. However, the actual cab is only 10 feet long; just enough to be comfortable for an adventurous person or two.
Luce is involved in an antique truck club, and through this the couple received their first vintage camper. One thing led to the next, and the couple now attends vintage camper get-togethers. Last spring, they visited New York for one.
“We kind of got the vintage camper bug,” she admitted.
They now own four.
Some antique camper purists insist that owners restore them to their original look. Others prefer to completely modernize them. Glover plans to do a little bit of both.
She intends to make the base look similar to the original, but plans to add some modern amenities to make it liveable and more up-to-date. For example, she plans to add solar power for the mini kitchen in the front end.
“It originally had a gas stove and an old-time icebox,” she said. “It would have been powered by a 12-volt battery.”
After the update, the kitchen will most likely have a working sink and a coffee maker.
According to Glover, the cost of the renovation is not “unreasonable,” but she admits that’s mostly because she and her husband are doing the labor themselves.
“Paying someone to do it would be too much,” she said.
Plus, the couple wouldn’t be able to have the satisfaction of completing their very own camper.
In addition to the original cost of $500 for the camper, Glover says they’ve probably spent around $3,000 on materials and parts. If they eventually decide to sell it, they can possibly ask around $10,000 “if it turns out well.”
The most challenging part of the rebuild, according to Glover, is that there aren’t records of how these older campers were built, so the couple has had to quickly educate themselves on using tools and equipment from nearly half a century ago.
“We started hot and heavy on it last fall,” Glover said.
However, they both worked construction last summer, so they put a hiatus on restoration while they were too busy to make progress on the camper. But Glover has high hopes for the camper in 2018.
“Ideally, if we can keep motivated … it will be ready this summer,” she said.
Staff reporter Christine Wisniewski started at the Greenfield Recorder in 2018. She covers Montague and Gill. She can be reached at cwisniewski@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 280.