We’ve seen many camper vans with slide-out kitchens. We’ve seen a few camper vans with slide-out expander modules. There’s been a slide-out beer keg or two and even a couple slide-out … well, campers. But we’ve never before seen a camper van with slide-out foosball table (or billiards or air hockey table, for that matter). That all changes with the Boho Golden Egg, a gorgeous camper van that combines its sliding tailgate surprise with a variety of other nice touches, including a fireplace.
You might remember Boho Camper Vans as the Arizona shop that transforms big, brutish Fords into simple, comfy camper vans for as little as $35,000. But helping customers kickstart #vanlife on the cheap is just part of Boho’s business. Like so many other camper van startups around the US, Boho also builds one-of-a-kind custom campers around the very exacting whims of individual buyers. Those vans include many a beautiful conversion, but perhaps none more unique and detailed than the Golden Egg.
You don’t need to be a foosball fanatic to appreciate the work Boho has done inside and outside the Golden Egg van. The minute you poke a head through the sliding door of the Ford Transit-based camper, the luxurious knotty red cedar will immediately fill your head with visions of fiery mountainside lodges tucked against howling slopes in places like Aspen or Gstaad. Once you snake your neck around and glance past the tidy kitchen block, you’ll notice this camper van even brings the fireplace, a small, wall-mounted unit over top the range. The Dickinson Marine propane fireplace won’t offer the woodsy scent or crackle of a classic lodge or camp fire, but its front window should offer an entrancing view of the flickering flame.
The cutout for the fireplace chimney joins the over-bed roof fan and smoke detector as the only breaks in the wood paneling covering the entirety of the ceiling. This paneling cascades down the walls before meeting the contrast of the darker bamboo flooring.
Beyond that, the Golden Egg has a straightforward but robust interior spec, with a few features you’d be surprised to find in such an extensive and aesthetic build. The toilet concealed in the sofa and stow-away shower basin in the bamboo bed step seem like particularly spartan choices for a client that clearly went all out in other areas. But the interior was designed for the maximum flexibility needed for a combination of full-time living and entertaining. And we suppose after the substantial mindset shift that’s followed the social media-fueled #vanlife and tiny living crazes, pooping in the couch may no longer be a deal breaker for friends and flings.
It’s also possible that the homey kitchen ate up the entire bathroom budget because it has a very capable layout of Dometic cooktop/oven, butcher block countertop, Dometic CFX-95 fridge/freezer mounted atop a slide to disappear away under the bed, slide-away pantry, and stainless steel sink with high faucet. The digital TV, cable package and JL Audio stereo system, along with the 315 Ah battery and 3000 W inverter running them, probably gobbled up some coin, too.
After finishing off the interior tour with the driver-side sofa with swivel table, you’ll probably notice that we haven’t seen a foosball table yet. That’s because the foosball table tucks neatly below the bed, sliding out the rear of the van on 72-in rails, a very different style of “tailgate game.” This particular buyer plays competitive foosball and wanted to ensure he could practice in his new rootless home. An umbrella holder offers shade for the table as a whimsical alternative to a vehicle awning.
As a one-off custom build, there’s no listed price on this one and Boho skillfully sidestepped when we asked, emphasizing that the build took twice as long as a standard conversion and included thousands upon thousands of dollars of components above and beyond the base package. It also called the project its most challenging yet. So we’ll just go with “well above $35,000.” Which is too bad. Because we really want our own.
Stylish camper van fills downtime with slide-out foosball and indoor campfire [New Atlas]