He Bought a Circus Wagon on eBay – and Turned It Into His Forever Home

For years, German freelance photographer Kai Branss lived a life most people only daydream about. After embracing minimalism, he bought an old American school bus and spent five years living on the road—travelling across Europe, climbing, and photographing landscapes and everyday moments along the way. It was a life defined by movement, freedom, and very few possessions.

But constant travel has a way of shifting your perspective.

“After five years,” Kai says, “I felt like I needed a real home base. When you travel all the time, you start to feel lost—or at least I did.”

That feeling eventually led him back to Germany, where, almost by accident, he found an apartment in the countryside near Berlin. The stability was welcome—but the apartment itself wasn’t. After years of living freely and close to nature, city-style living felt restrictive.
So Kai made a familiar decision, one that had already reshaped his life once before: he decided to build his own home.

Rather than starting with a blank plot of land, Kai stumbled across an old circus wagon on eBay in Poland. It was inexpensive and, at first glance, appeared to be in decent condition. He assumed he’d be able to move in with minimal work.

That illusion didn’t last long.

“When I started tearing it apart, I realised it was really in terrible shape,” he admits. “In the end, basically only the tyres were left.”

What followed was a full rebuild from the ground up—far more than he’d planned for, but ultimately a blessing in disguise. Starting over allowed him to raise the roof, improve the proportions, and rethink every material choice.

“I’m actually happy it was in such bad condition,” Kai says. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have taken it apart—and I wouldn’t have ended up with this.”

At just under 27 square metres (about 290 square feet), measuring roughly 9 metres long and 2.6 metres wide (approximately 29.5 feet by 8.5 feet), the wagon is compact but carefully considered. While it is technically mobile, it isn’t designed for constant travel and requires a trailer to move.

The build took nearly two years—two years of near-constant work, learning, failing, rebuilding, and pushing through moments of doubt.

“It’s like building a real house,” Kai says. “The biggest challenge isn’t the construction—it’s keeping the motivation when things go wrong.”

Natural light was central to Kai’s vision for his tiny home, even if it meant prioritising windows over wall space and storage. The finished space features an unusually generous number of openings for its size: two windows in the bathroom, panoramic windows in both the kitchen and bedroom, a glazed front door, and large French doors opening onto the deck. The effect is a home that feels deeply connected to its surroundings—living inside while still feeling outdoors. All windows are solid wood and double-glazed for insulation and durability.

Rather than using conventional expanding foam, the gaps around the windows are sealed with hemp fibre, a breathable, natural material that aligns with the ethos of the build. While the process is time-consuming, it avoids synthetic materials and supports a healthier, more considered construction overall.

Inside, the wagon is furnished almost entirely with secondhand and salvaged pieces—chairs found on the street, cabinets bought cheaply online, and objects with visible history.
“I don’t buy old things because they’re cheaper,” Kai explains. “I buy them because they have a story. New things feel empty to me.”

That philosophy carries through the entire interior, which blends industrial elements with natural, earthy tones and black accents. The only items bought new were those tied to a specific colour palette—like the kitchen sink and fitting

Storage in small homes is often treated as a puzzle to solve. Kai’s solution is more philosophical than architectural.

“My clever solution is not owning much,” he says.

Rather than lining the walls with cupboards, he relies on a few well-placed storage zones: under the bed, a small closet near the ceiling, and a single cabinet in the living area.

“If you build a lot of cupboards, you’ll fill them,” he says. “I prefer the space to stay open.”

Cooking is central to Kai’s daily life, so the kitchen takes up more space than you might expect in such a small home. He built the structure himself using a steel frame, topped with a custom countertop made from local wood sourced from a nearby mill.

“I wanted everything to be local,” he explains. “The mill only works with wood from the surrounding area, which makes it feel more connected to this place.”

The kitchen includes hot water, a large fridge with a small freezer, and everything he needs for everyday cooking. The water is heated electrically, just like in a conventional house.

Clean drinking water has been a priority for Kai long before building his tiny house. During his years living on the road, he relied on a water filter and avoided bottled water entirely—a habit that continues today, even with a permanent garden water connection. With concerns around microplastics, heavy metals, pharmaceutical residues, and pesticides now widespread, water quality remains essential.

For his tiny home, Kai installed an under-sink filtration system that removes a broad range of contaminants while also softening the water and reducing limescale. A separate drinking-water tap ensures only water used for consumption is filtered, extending the filter’s lifespan and reducing waste.

Kai built nearly everything himself, drawing heavy inspiration from Japanese craftsmanship and traditional techniques. One of the most striking elements is the use of yakisugi—a method of charring wood—to create richly textured black surfaces in the bedroom.

The sleeping area features a full-size double bed with generous storage underneath. A large window beside the bed opens directly to the outdoors.

“In summer, with the window open, it feels like sleeping outside,” Kai says. “That’s probably my favourite part of the bedroom.”

At the heart of Kai’s home is a wood-burning stove designed to do far more than provide heat. After six years of relying on wood stoves while living on the road, he chose a 7kW model as his sole heat source—knowing that excess heat can always be reduced, but insufficient warmth can’t be added later.

The stove also doubles as a cooking and baking tool, supporting everyday rituals like making bread, soup, and hot drinks through the colder months. Built from cast iron and heavy firebricks, it distributes heat evenly and retains warmth long after the fire has died down, reducing wood consumption and keeping the space comfortable overnight. Installed against a carefully constructed fireproof wall, it reflects the same safety-first, long-term thinking that defines the rest of the build.

Even when temperatures drop to –10°C, the space remains comfortable. The stove retains heat so well that Kai doesn’t need to re-light it overnight.

“It’s still warm in the morning,” he says. “That makes a big difference.”

The bathroom is complete in spirit, if not yet in every detail. It includes a composting toilet and a handcrafted sink carved from a river stone by a friend, paired with a vanity built by Kai himself. The wood surface has been treated using yakisugi, the traditional Japanese charring technique, adding both durability and depth while staying true to the home’s natural material palette.

The indoor shower is still to come. Faced with a fixed move-out date from his previous apartment, Kai prioritized making the space livable and postponed the final build phase. For now, hot water from the kitchen is used for outdoor showers—a practical, if adventurous, interim solution that reflects the realities of self-built living. The future shower will be constructed entirely from natural materials, a deliberate choice that requires extensive research to ensure durability and moisture resistance, and one that continues Kai’s commitment to low-impact, thoughtful design.

For sanitation, Kai chose the Mytrelino Timber L composting toilet, a decision guided by both design and practicality. Its simple, well-proportioned form fits seamlessly into the circus wagon, while its solid construction and German-made quality offer the comfort of a conventional toilet—without using any water.

Designed for off-grid living, the system operates entirely without a sewer connection. Liquids and solids are separated and disposed of independently, and because the toilet is permanently installed, Kai added a ventilation system to control moisture and odours. Free from chemicals and wastewater, it aligns closely with the natural material philosophy of the build. In the future, greywater will be treated through a biological filtration system, while the composted output can be safely returned to the landscape—closing the loop in a simple, low-impact way.

Kai rents his plot as part of a small farming community, contributing labour in exchange for rent while receiving water and electricity from the farm. His days are slow, practical, and grounded: photography work, construction jobs around the farm, gathering firewood, and ongoing improvements to the wagon.

As unusual as the home may seem, Kai doesn’t see it as temporary. He built it to last—and intends to live in it for the rest of his life, wherever it may eventually land.

“The whole home is my favourite feature,” he says. “But if I had to choose, it’s the porch, the openness, and the wood stove. This space feels alive.”

You can follow Kai’s life in his tiny home on Instagram @kaibranss, where he has also launched Small Living Mini Mag. Through it, he shares insights into living small—offering inspiration, practical tips, and reflections on building a fulfilling life and creating a home of your own.

Photo Credit: Kai Branss