Waukesha Man Builds Wooden Wagon As Ode To Father

WAUKESHA, WI — What started as an homage to a Waukesha man's father resulted in a quarantine project. In a driveway in Waukesha sits a beautiful wooden wagon with square and circular windows.

James Barany told Patch that he built the wagon as a tribute to his father, who died in the springafter a courageous fight with Alzheimer's.

A mahogany-colored wooden door on the wagon holds a plaque that reads, "The Leander, Barany's Vardo Camper."

Leander is his father's middle name, which Barany said his father hated. Yet Barany said he loves his dad's name.

Barany said his father lived out loud, lived hard and worked his children.

"He would probably tell me I'm falling behind schedule," Barany said.

He believes his father would be proud that his son built the wagon and would want to go ice fishing.

He recalled his dad's love of the great outdoors and going on family camping trips. His father taught him how to hunt and about the rule of not wasting meat.

"You didn't kill something unless you were going to consume it," Barany said.

Barany is a bower on the side and makes handmade bows and arrows. Before his father's Alzheimer's was advanced, he gave his son a handmade bow from Hungry.

"I feel like I'm retouching a part of my past," he said.

The travel bug was also passed down to him.

"We are always the family that has to travel," he told Patch.

Normally a family camping trip or with his wife’s Cub Scout troop involves roughing it. However, Barany wanted a nicer way to see the world.

His puzzle

Barany researched camper trailers online and was shocked at the high prices. So Barany, an artist and professor at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, took pen to paper and started sketching a camper in June.

As an instructor at MIAD, he runs a "boot camp" for the first-year experience program. One of the courses involves technical renderings and making sketches. He developed a flat drawing and a mini scale model of a wagon.

The neighbors jokingly asked why he just didn't use a kit. He told them, "No, it is up here" and points to his head.

Barany said he hates puzzles because they are "predetermined."

Barany said the wagon is his puzzle.

Making the wagon

The Renaissance man ultimately decided to custom design and build a wooden wagon on his own.

"When I first started, people thought I was making a really fancy utility trailer," he laughed.

For around $6,500, he built a wooden wagon for his family to use for camping. Almost everything was recycled or reused except a few things, he said. The windows are new, along with the structure lumber.

The wood has imperfections that make the wagon unique.

Barany used shed windows with tempered glass. As any traveler knows, a stone could kick up and strike the glass. He told Patch a stone might shatter the glass but would not break the window entirely.

Not only is the wagon a tribute to his father, it also a nod to Barany's family heritage.

"Going back to our (family) heritage, my last name is Hungarian, and I also have Czechoslovakian blood in me," Barany said.

The wooden wagon is designed after a "vardo," a type of horse-drawn wagon, with Bohemian tones. The vardo was popular in the late 19th century and was used for lodging.

There is enough room to sleep three people comfortably but more in a pinch.

The inside of the wagon is still a work in progress, but he plans to put a lofted bed for his son and a pull-out futon for Barany and his wife. The futon will be dual purpose and used as a couch. A wood-burning stove also will be installed. Plans also include a marine pump sink and a side tent with a compost toilet.

"We will be able to go 'glamping' and plug in if we want to but will be able to be resilient on the road," Barany said.

Barany said he has made many new friends since he started building the wagon in June. People walking their dogs stop by or drivers pull over to look.

"We have been here (in Waukesha) since 2007 and knew no one. But now I know so many people," Barany said.

He is hoping the wagon will be ready to hit the road between the major holidays.