Yurts

Yurt Lady: Living in the Round

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Happy Independence Day! With summer fully upon most of the country, let’s celebrate one of the best tiny houses for enjoying the outdoors. We’ve covered numerous yurts in the past, but Becky Kemery a.k.a.”The Yurt Lady” and her book, Yurts: Living in the Round, shows how these structures can be comfortable and elegant while still letting in the outdoors.

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.

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Cae Mabon

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The Cae Mabon Retreat Centre in North Wales has been building small, natural dwellings for their residents and visitors since 1989. This intentional community is located in the best of what nature can offer: in the woods, by a river, near a lake, at the foot of the mountains and within sight of the sea.

Cae Mabon’s principal creator is Eric Maddern, who was inspired to create the community after spending time with the Aboriginal people in Alice Springs, Australia. He wanted to create a place that was not the ostentatious beauty of the wealthy but the humble beauty of the simple and natural. The buildings he created are mostly made from timber, stone, reed, straw, grass, lime and clay and they blend in with their surroundings.

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Laurel Nest Yurts Workshop

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Laurel Nest Yurts will offer their next yurt building workshop from April 22nd, 23rd and 24th. 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, … Read more

Grant’s Portable Ger

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Grant Olson contacted me about a portable Ger he built and lived in for 3 months and he asked me to share his project with you. I am impressed with his ger and think it would make a perfect temporary shelter or home. I’ll let Grant tell you more about it.

About this time last year, I was finalizing plans for a 7-month natural building apprenticeship in the Irish countryside. Though lodging was unavailable, our instructor invited us to camp on the property if the idea of renting a room in town was a bit pricey. Having spent my last dimes on the plane ticket, I began designing a shelter to bring with me: something portable enough to disguise as luggage, yet comfortable enough to keep me satisfied for the duration of my stay.

Inspired by the simple and tested design of the Mongolian ger, I set to work miniaturizing its components; the resulting structure measures 8′ in diameter and 6′ at its peak when set up, but folds down to fit inside an 11″ x 8″ x 48″ box. Its total weight is just over 20 lbs, and it cost less than $150 to build (though a few connections allowed me to obtain materials for cheap/free).

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Vermont 2011 Yurt Building Workshop

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Bruce Sargent contacted me about a Yurt building workshop he will be holding in Shaftsbury, Vermont this summer. Bruce say: I built two 12′ yurts last summer each, with 12 students, and each, in two days, start to finish and up. I’ll be offering the lessons learned in a workshop this summer. Course details … Read more

Turtleback Nomadic Yurts

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Kim discovered this company recently and sent me the link. I made contact with the owners of this new yurt company based in Colorado. This yurt is unique in the fact that it is not canvas but it is easy to take apart and move to another location if necessary.

Isaac Murphy the owner of Turtleback Nomadic Yurts says this one is 16 foot in diamater  or 200 square feet. It can be put up or taken down in two hours. 6 ft. 8 in. interior eve height and 10 ft. interior center height at hub. The basic package includes 7 windows and is made from pine and aspen wood. Insulation R-value approx. 5. No flapping canvas, solid and stable. $8000 basic package.

We are located near Dolores, Colorado, about 30 miles northeast of the four corners. Aside from what you can see on the blog, we are also working on a fully insulated model, slightly heavier and beefed up for winter living. It will be slightly larger, 18ft. diameter, and use 2×6 rafters as opposed to 2×4 on the one see on the website. We do all the manufacturing ourselves in our little shop here on the property, from lumber we purchase from the lumber yard. Eventually, we’d like to buy wood from one of the local mills and cure it ourselves, providing a good local source.

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