I knew that I wanted to move into that round cabin in a field from the moment I saw the ad on Craigslist.

At 500 square feet, it was the smallest place I had ever lived in. It was round, like a yurt, but built like a house, with windows all around and two sets of doors to the outside. A big skylight dominated the ceiling. The cabin had a colorful past, having been used not only for housing, but also as a recording studio and at one point, for professionally-run seances. I hadn’t a clue how to furnish this round room so I went on the web and researched “yurts.”

I decided that I liked the way the Mongolians handled the situation. In those yurts, the middle of the room was taken up by a big stove and all the furniture was pushed against the edges of the room with the beds doubling as seating during the day. I didn’t have a big stove in the middle of the room, but I liked the idea of being efficient with whatever I did bring to the yurt, so I immediately sold my sofa and arranged the rest of my furniture around the perimeter, Mongolian-style, leaving an open space in the middle. That area under the skylight ended up doubling as a personal yoga studio, a guest room where I could put the blow up mattress, a larger space to move the dining table out when I had people over to eat or as a place to put extra chairs when friends were hanging out. The middle space with nothing in it became the most used and most useful area in the cabin.

The tiny bathroom was the only private room. It looked out on a field and had a Lilliputian shower tucked into one corner. The kitchen was built against one of the walls and consisted of several cabinets, a miniature counter top and refrigerator and stove. I did my laundry in a shed across a small field where an ancient washer and dryer were located. My bike and a couple of extra plastic containers were stashed in a barn at the back of the property. The electricity, plumbing and internet access came with the property and was included in the rent. Heating for the yurt, the cook stove, and the water were my responsibility and came from propane tanks.

My one job on the property was to pull the garbage and recycling bins down the long driveway to the road once a week. My first time was a Monday night, a few days after I moved in. It was a moonless night in January and by the time I got home from work, it was very, very dark. I grabbed my camera and took some spooky shots with my flash and posted them on Facebook. The very next morning, a friend of mine arrived at my office with the flashlight and strict instructions to use it for future night-time garbage runs!

The view to the barn

A week after moving in, I was unexpectedly diagnosed with 4th stage cancer. As I stumbled through months of diagnosis, of chemo and of recovery, I ended up wandering the fields daily and ultimately taking almost 2,000 photos of the land, the flowers, the birds and animals, the sky. Most of the photos are not much good. I was on drugs, after all! But the act of photography kept me sane.

Sunrise from my window

The round cabin in the field was a beautiful, remarkable place to live during that time of my life. I spent a fair amount of time in bed and from the window by my head I could see the sun rise and from the window across the room I could see the sun set. On full moon nights, the moonbeams would shine onto my face and wake me up when it passed over the skylight. During the day, I could watch birds fly overhead and chase acorns around the skylight’s edge. When it stormed, the rain, the wind, and the flying tree branches would crash against the walls, the windows and roof, but I was safe inside this little pod. Where else but in that round house in the field could all those miracles be possible?

At one point during chemo, I became so ill that I had to leave the country for two months and be taken care of in the city. I tried not to think about my round cabin too much during that time. When I was finally able to come back – cured for now – I decided to return alone. I walked back into the cabin and immediately opened all the doors and windows. I turned off my phone and spent that first night back listening only to the wind in the trees.

Long driveway to the road

Even then, I knew that this new, post-cancer life of mine would probably require leaving the cabin in the field. During my last few months of recovery, I memorized the views outside of every window, especially the one by the head of my bed, where I would watch the sunrise, the wild turkeys, the deer, the squirrels, the birds, and the branch of the oak tree that overhung the roof. I wanted to make sure that every time I closed my eyes, I would be able to re-create that view for the rest of my life. At the end of my lease in December of 2011, I did move out and came back to live in town. On the rare occasions that I return to visit, my feet navigate the fields with more confidence than my eyes. Will I ever come back there to live? Probably not to that place, but most likely to a place much like it.

I built the Yurt last year for the purpose of holiday rentals, it’s situated in an old abandoned quarry high up in the hills overlooking vast acres of Devon landscape with outstanding views. I got the idea from Bill Coperthwaite and his buildings featured in Lloyd Khan’s Homework book (Lloyd, what a guy). Anyway, I sent off for Bill’s plans, could not understand what was going on, and so eventually I made it up as I went along.

The building is mainly constructed out of scrap scaffold boards, pallets and timber from the builders merchants. It cost about £10,000 (about $15,979) not including labour time. Cedar shingles are so darn expensive over here along with plumbers who have to make sure gas is installed properly and signed off (big expense). The house also has a sawdust toilet, off grid for lighting, and mains water with shower and kitchen. The swing is a trampoline turned upside down purchased off EBay for £1.99.

Whilst it’s first and foremost a holiday retreat we also hope people will take away with them the realization that you can think for yourself and do for yourself rather than this dreadful dependency on big business to provide everything which unfortunately seems to have infected pretty much everybody here in the U.K. Unlike in the states where there seems to be a real shift in freeing one’s self from debt.

Both my wife and I are also very keen to show our son Red that you do have choices.

You can learn more at: www.big-grass.com and http://www.facebook.com/bigskyretreat

After many moons slipped into oblivion, I decided to study and design a new system. I bypassed the traditional Yurt design, because I felt the lattice walls were too weak and cumbersome to make. Instead, I went with the Geodesic design which is vastly stronger and offers more versatile space and comfort.

Lodge Tech now manufacture some of strongest and most economically priced Domes and Yurts around. These can be made into homes if one is far enough off the beaten path and knows how to work around zoning ordinances etc. Or if you need a great farm building, or to rent them out to hikers or campers.

The Domes and Yurts can be insulated with any common materials and can withstand huge snow load and wind force. We also make Greenhouses in this same design, and a few other accessories like our low cost Compost Toilet (humanure method). www.lodge-tech.net

Prototype 2 and office

Their combined professional experience counts almost 30 years with the Cirque du Soleil, as Project managers and event planners. They put to profit this experience, by betting on their own dreams and building a high quality product as innovative and original, based on values as enterprising as their past employer.

The first prototype was developed in 2002 by Michel for a specific Cirque event. Used mainly as a summer lounge, together they decided to push the element to a higher level by modifying the original structure, adding a couple of layers of insulation and testing the product in a rugged area.

The prototype was set up, nestled secretly on a mountainside where it was tested and put to use for several years, from hot and humid conditions to cold and snowy conditions, always standing up without even showing the slightest sign of weakness. The occasion was also good to test different types of materials, such as outside canvas types, floor types, insulation types, window and door types, etc. After 8 years of testing and convinced of its undoubtful quality, the prototype was redesigned in order to obtain more square footage and also to give the product a more finished look.

The new design was developed and designed by Exotik Innovations and tested by Quebec’s Industrial Research Center and passed the test with flying colors. In 2011, they decided to market their product and in 2012 will be opening a new division of Y & B (Yurt and Breakfast) in their region, near Montreal, Quebec.

How to describe the reinvented yurt: ‘’With our reinvented yurt, we board the public in a space that convinces and surprises, or at a limit calms them. It’s a space stronger than yourself.

Something happens, but in silence. You must break this silence, find a relation other than the one imposed by the surroundings. The yurt procures us the warmth we are seeking’’

Home and Cottage show in 2011 at the Montreal Olympic Stadium

You will be seduced by its multiple usages: vacation residence, game room for the children, spare bedroom, covered outdoor lounge, exhibition booth, meeting room, concert hall, boys’ room, ambulant theater, refuge for hikers, rural bed and breakfasts, mother in law’s apartment in the backyard, a spiritual space. Many have already adopted this type of living, some temporarily vacationing from conventional living, or others have used the yurts to expand the functions of their homes.

Sleeping inside this type allows you to gaze at the stars from the confort of your bed. Built for a superior comfort level year round, it can be luxuriously furnished and decorated whilst conserving a rustic aspect in a natural setting near a water point, a mountain, or simply in a prairie. To learn more visit their website http://tenteexotik.com/ .

The one drawback with the yurt for me is the lattice walls and how they affect your view out of the windows. You probably get used to it after a while and I know there are alternatives.

This photo is courtesy of the Colorado Yurt Company.

Laurel Nest Yurts is offering a “Complete Yurt Building Experience” and a DIY Yurt Building Workshop.

Laurel Nest Yurt building workshops give you all the skills you need to:

• Build the platform
• Plan, design and build your walls, roof and tono.
• Install framed and mesh windows and skylight
• Sew your yurt cover out of Canvas
• Erect the yurt

The cost for the workshop is $125 to help cover costs incurred by workshop (snacks, materials, instructors, printing of the manual, etc.) We will have a limit of 10 people at our workshop, snacks and camping available.

You can get the complete details here: http://www.laurelnestyurts.com/ blog or use the following contact information:

For more information or registration contact:
Adrian
831-338-8300
adriantepperman@gmail.com

One of the issues with yurts that sends many people away is the fact that they are made of canvas or wood and usually have a lattice skeleton which blocks your view. A serious concern if you are in a beautiful area. circHouse has taken the age old shape of the yurt and put technology to work creating an innovative new structure. By utilizing polycabonate and acrylic wall structures, a recycled steel frame and natural wood paneling they have created a modern looking structure that is compact for shipping and that can be assembled in a few short hours.

Here is what they say about the house for Recreational and Vacationing: “The circHouse for the recreational setting takes advantage of the full view floor to ceiling picture window and sliding window capabilities. We use wood panels where desired to create a more “natural” feel to the structure. The Polygal greenhouse roof panels can be used to let in lots of natural light and warmth. A simple Photovoltaic system, wood stove and solar water heating system can provide the comforts of home in an off grid and remote location. You can start putting the circHouse up in the morning and have lunch in your new getaway vacation home!”

I see great potential for a tiny house and their price on the website for a 20 foot cirHouse is $11,950, which is comparable to many canvas yurts. I would enjoy seeing one of these in person and hope to send a couple of my friends in Colorado to get a first hand look at it. If you are in the Denver area, I would suggest you check out this company and give me your opinion on this fine new design.

Becky has lived in yurts for many years in the mountains of the American Northwest. Her book was completed a few years ago while living in her own portable fabric yurt on a permaculture homestead in Idaho. She has also created an educational website called Yurt Info, a newsletter and a Facebook page for other yurt owners and fans of the wood and fabric buildings. The Yurt Info site offers information on how to buy or build a yurt, and includes a forum and links to numerous yurt videos and photo albums.

Photos courtesy of Yurt Info.

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

Their Pacific Dome is attached to a temporary insulated foundation and the entire structure took about four days to erect. Currently the dome does not have insulation, but they plan to order a special cover to be used in the winter. A solar fan is attached to the outside to provide air circulation during the summer. So far the structure has been very sturdy…even in our area’s notorious winds and heavy snows. Unfortunately, a few neighbors reported the dome to the local building department and the department now wants a set of structural calculations about the dome which will be supplied by the engineer at Pacific Domes.

Pacific Domes, located in Ashland, Oregon has been designing and building domes since 1980. They use the sacred geometry of R. Buckminster Fuller to create spacious, yet structurally sound domes of all sizes. Pacific Domes have been used for special events, weddings, meditation, yoga and healing spaces, schools, emergency shelters, eco-living, camping, and a large dome without the cover is even used for the infamous “Thunderdome” at Burning Man. Pacific Domes have also been used in Haiti and after Hurricane Katrina for temporary shelters and hospitals.

Many Pacific Dome customers purchase their domes to live in. The company offers different cover materials to allow for use in any climate. They have insulation packages available that, in conjunction with a wood stove or other heating system, make the dome a comfortable space in cold weather. They also recommend radiant heat in the dome floor. Larger domes can accommodate lofts, walls, and other partitions to create separate rooms. All interior construction should be free standing and self supported.

YouTube Video: Erecting a Pacific Dome

YouTube Video: Very elegant and liveable dome at Pacific Domes

The dome frames are made from galvanized steel. The steel, in conjunction with the geodesic design, creates an amazingly strong structure using a minimal amount of material. Geodesic domes are world-renowned for their strength and integrity. Depending on your situation and needs, they offer “heavy duty” 1.31”, through “extreme” 1.9”, frames in addition to the “standard” .92” frame. The dome covers are made of SunLite fabric or Tropical fabric. Insulation can be a liner with Reflectix or a thermoshield painted on the inside of the dome.

Three floor plans are offered and several foundation options. The roof, door, round windows and portions of the sidewalls can be replaced with screens for ventilation if needed. A solar fan is recommended to aid in ventilation, especially in damp areas.

Photos Courtesy of Christina Nellemann and Pacific Domes

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

Workshop location: Laurel Nest Yurts 264-1 Marlowe Dr. Mills River, North Carolina

We will be teaching people how to build all yurt parts. All participants will leave the workshop with knowledge about building their own yurt, sewing the yurt cover, the complete yurt building manual, and a roof ring that they assembled and finished on their own. We will offer lots of tips and suggestions, and participants should leave the workshop with first hand experience and knowledge about how all yurt parts come together.

We feel that because the roof ring is the most challenging frame piece to build, it will benefit all participants to make it on site. In the sewing studio, we teach how to make windows, assemble the walls, and cut and sew an entire roof! Some of the participants have helped with the sewing.

The cost for the workshop is the cost of the ring plus $100 to help cover costs incurred by workshop (food, materials, instructors, printing of the manual, etc.) We will have a limit of 8 people at our workshop. Deadline for registration is April 11! Check our website www.laurelnest.com for prices and other information. We will also be posting information on our facebook page, so sign up to get updates!

We had some other positive feedback, and testimonials, and they are below… thanks to everybody who made the workshop a success!

”I don’t know where I could find a better value in a sustainable shelter or a more helpful group of people to facilitate my dream of building my own yurt, then at Laurel Nest Yurts.”

“The workshop was awesome! people had a great time and learned a lot..no matter what level of know-how they came in with. There were people who already knew a lot, and people like me who were total beginners, and everyone was comfortable and got a chance to learn. Thanks Hal, Charlie, Asia and everyone for a great weekend!”

“I loved the hands-on options. Thanks for the background, so that personal modifications [to the yurts] can be made… I would recommend this workshop to others!”