THE HOUSEHOLD
Marketing executive Jasmin Dennis, 26, her partner Liam Alderdice, 28, a landscape gardener, and Jasmin’s son Bertie, seven.
THE PROJECT
After finishing her master’s in sustainable development in 2023, Jasmin was living in a VW campervan with Bertie, then three, travelling the UK, saving rent and looking for a home she could make her own without breaking the bank.
An opportunity came up later that year when she spotted a disused double-decker bus on sale for £8,000 on Facebook Marketplace. ‘It belonged to a guy who had bought it from a former bus driver and had started converting it into a mobile home for himself and his wife before she sadly passed away,’ says Jasmin. ‘When I shared my plans to turn it into a family home for myself and Bertie, he loved the idea so much that he offered it to me for £6,000.’
The bus, however, was a long way from move-in ready. Having spent months as a makeshift storage unit, it had fallen into disrepair. ‘At first, I thought it would just be a matter of clearing it out, giving it a lick of paint, and moving in within three months,’ she says. ‘I thought I could sort it all out with a saw and a drill!’
The walls and ceilings throughout are insulated and clad with reclaimed palette wood. The staircase banister is made from felled tree branches whittled by Jasmin and Bertie.
BEFORE
In fact, the renovation took two years to complete and turned into a joint venture when Jasmin met her partner, Liam, six months in. The couple moved the bus to Liam’s parents’ farm in Callington, Cornwall, and lived between the bus and the main house while work was being done. ‘Before he retired, my dad, Gary, used to fit kitchens for John Lewis, so he was a handy man to have around,’ says Liam.
Today, the once-abandoned bus has been transformed into a fully functional home –complete with a dining area, fitted kitchen, super-king-sized bed, bathtub and even an al fresco hot tub.
Jasmin aboard her revamped bus.
As it is located on private land, the bus is classified as SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification), so the couple do not need to pay road tax.
BUILDING A HOME ON WHEELS
To turn the bus into a comfortable home, Jasmin first had to make it habitable by adding insulation and a water and electricity supply from Liam’s parent’s house nearby. ‘We have a portable unit that can be set up in different locations depending on where the bus goes,’ she says. (The bus is still driveable, should they wish.)
The walls were lined with Celotex-rigid foam insulation panels sandwiched between aluminium sheets and then clad with palette wood from a local reclamation yard. Each piece was sanded before being varnished and nailed to the walls. ‘It may be a bus, but it is also a home,’ says Jasmin.
On the lower deck, the dining area’s banquette seating is handmade from reclaimed scaffold boards and topped with bespoke upholstered cushions that Jasmin sourced from Etsy. The stove was gifted to Jasmin by the bus’s previous owner.
BEFORE
The couple wanted to create a bedroom and bathing area on the upper deck, so Liam covered the ceiling with a breathable, waterproof membrane before plastering it over for a luxury finishing touch.
Jasmin and Liam also tackled the exterior makeover themselves, spending three weeks sanding the outside of the bus before respraying it with agricultural oxide paint.
‘It’s the same durable, waterproof solvent they use on tractors,’ Liam explains. ‘Having it professionally resprayed would have cost around £18,000, but this way it only set us back £450.’
Jasmin added fun touches, such as this ‘magic switch’, which lights up niches throughout.
SALVAGED STYLE
Given Jasmin’s master’s in sustainable development, it was important that the bus featured as many reclaimed and preloved pieces as possible. As a result, most of the furniture has been designed and handmade by the couple, bar a £70 chair found on Facebook Marketplace. Hero pieces include the super-king-sized bed platform that the pair made from old scaffold boards. ‘We opted for a super king as anything smaller would have left a slither of dead space around the bed,’ says Liam. The couple raised the bed up so it could accommodate two deep storage drawers for bedding and textiles underneath. These also double up as pull-out single beds.
Downstairs, the banquette dining area showcases the same creative reuse. The benches were crafted from scaffold boards and topped with custom-made upholstered cushions that Jasmin sourced from an independent maker on Etsy. In the centre is a striking spalted beechwood tabletop, sourced from a National Trust site, which rests on the iron legs of an old sewing-machine table that once belonged to Liam’s dad.
She also zoned the lower deck by adding a front door – previously in Liam’s parents’ shed – to the kitchen. The sink was £15 from Facebook Marketplace.
The stair guard is made from the repurposed tree branches on the farm that the couple had to fell to make room for the bus. They then shaved and whittled the felled branches into shape. ‘Bertie loved that bit,’ says Jasmin.
But the star of the show is the bathtub – an Ebay buy snapped up for just £3.20. Too wide for the narrow staircase, it had to be hoisted through the back window. ‘It was in perfect condition,’ says Jasmin. ‘The only thing I replaced was the shower head.’
Jasmin designed the bed to incorporate storage drawers that double up as pull- out beds. Mini hidden doors (see between the drawers) throughout contain dolls’ houses for children to discover and play with when they stay. The bed linen is from secretlinenstore.com.
BEFORE
FROM BUS TO BUSINESS
After Liam proposed on the bus, the original plan for it to be Jasmine and Bertie’s family home needed a rethink. ‘The bus just became too small for all of us,’ says Jasmin. ‘It doesn’t help that Liam is over six feet tall and the ceilings are so low!’
They currently live in Liam’s parents’ house. Rather than part with their beloved project, the couple decided to transform it into a unique Airbnb stay. ‘As it’s built mostly from natural materials and filled with houseplants I’ve collected over the years, we named it the Botanical Bus,’ says Jasmin.
The bath is a £3.20 Ebay find. ‘We had to hoist it through the back window of the bus as it didn’t fit up the stairs, she says.
Taking inspiration from Airbnb’s insights that around 70 per cent of guests search for listings with hot tubs, the pair added a custom-built wood-fired tub from edenhut.co.uk, chosen to complement the bus’s eco-friendly ethos. ‘We also positioned it over a borehole,’ Jasmin explains, ‘so we could ensure privately sourced, chemical-free water for guests.’
Since being listed in August, the bus has been fully booked with couples and families seeking a one-of-a-kind escape surrounded by nature, and has become one of Airbnb’s most popular UK rentals (prices vary depending on the season but start at £176 per night, airbnb.com). ‘We keep a few weeks free each year so we can stay in it ourselves,’ says Jasmin. ‘It’s become our little holiday home from home.’
Visit @the_botanical_bus_………….
