FRAMINGHAM — Over the past year, William Burgos has become famous at Lowe's.

Deep in the backyard of a quiet Framingham home, he and Jennifer Gahres, his girlfriend of two and a half years, have transformed an old church school bus into a cozy log cabin on wheels. The months-long project fueled frequent trips to the home improvement store on Cochituate Road, prompting employees to ask Burgos if he was a contractor.

With just finishing touches left, they hope to travel across the country in their new home — named “Sage” — this spring.

“When you build something like this and you're finished, it makes you feel like you accomplished something big. It's a little stepping stone for whatever we do," said Burgos. "I think we might have found our purpose.”

Burgos, a scrub nurse, and Gahres, who has a background in social work, decided to take on the bus conversion to embrace their love of travel and sustainability.

It’s also an escape from the 9 to 5 routine, said Gahres, noting the daily grind can be draining.

“Being able to live this kind of lifestyle, we’re going to be able to explore other options of being able to do those things,” she said, referring to nursing and social work. “In different capacities — it might not look the exact same.”

The couple explored different options, including a fifth wheel camper and a container home, before settling on a “skoolie”: the term for a renovated school bus made into a home. A mass-manufactured RV cannot be easily personalized and they liked the safety of a bus.

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“RVs are mostly made of fiberglass and they’re very light," said Burgos. "When they get into an accident, they just disintegrate. With this, it just can’t happen. It’s like a train."

They found the $5,000 bus on Facebook, then took a seven-hour road trip to Rochester, New York, to pick it up last New Year’s Eve. Most “skoolies” are usually cheaper, but this one was priced higher due to its relatively low mileage — 90,000.

Work began the next day.

In the back of Gahres’ parents’ home, the 10-foot-tall bus was gutted and cut in half, then raised about 19 inches with a new strip of metal. Labels harking back to its days as a Baptist church bus were scraped away and repainted in earthy tones of gray and beige.

A mint-green trail zigzags its way along the outside, a nod to their website name: Conscious Matter Travels.

“Consciousness, frequency, energy — everything is transmitted through waves of vibrations,” said Burgos.

They replaced the standard floor and ceiling with wood pallets for a homier interior. Gahres said much of the decor is repurposed, from curtains saved from their old home to bits of leather refashioned into straps to ensure cabinets stay closed while driving.

The tiny home also includes a shower, toilet, closets and a sink. Just recently, they finalized solar panels to collect sunlight and convert those rays into energy in the form of electricity.

Green potted plants frame the driver's front window. 

“We couldn’t leave those behind,” said Gahres.

For Burgos, the crown jewel of the bus is a homemade skylight, made with the back window of a 2005 Ford Escape salvaged from a junkyard. It took two tries, with the first attempt failing because the door was too big.

Burgos almost decided to just cover the gap with metal and be done with it but decided he wanted the skylight. He found a second door that was a bit smaller and fit.

“I built a frame in such a way to fit the door perfectly onto it and then I just welded the door to the frame,” said Burgos. “It took four months to figure out how to do it. If it weren’t for that, we would have been gone already.”

Along the way, they turned to YouTube tutorials or fellow “skoolies” for tips. Burgos said he grew up doing construction, welding and carpentry, as he often helped out at friends’ parents’ shops, and leaned on that background while building.

Gahres and Burgos are inspired by another "skoolie" couple who traveled across the country with the mission of performing a good deed in every state they hit.

They plan to scope out websites for volunteer gigs. Some ideas they have so far are cooking meals or helping out at homeless shelters. Burgos said he’d like to have care packages on hand, filled with items like socks, a toothbrush and deodorant, in case they come across someone in need. 

Gahres said they may try to visit tech schools along the way to show off the bus.

“All the kids have been in school buses, so they know what they look like, but they’ve never seen a bus like this. That might plant a seed in their mind,” said Burgos.

Some top destinations on their list: Sedona, Arizona, which they had planned to visit last year before the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to cancel; Crater Lake in Oregon, which Gahres has visited but spent just one day; and White Sands National Park in New Mexico, where the dunes are sugar-white, said Burgos. 

But before they set off, Burgos wants to make one final trip to Lowe's. When the insurance, registration and license plates are set, he plans to park “Sage” in the parking lot so the home improvement chain's employees, who helped him along the way, can see the final product.

“It’s like a little token of our appreciation,” said Burgos.

Zane Razzaq writes about education. Reach her at 508-626-3919 or zrazzaq@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.