Yurts

Yurt Holiday Portugal

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Hannah McDonnell contacted me about her Yurt Holiday business located in Portugal.

Come and stay in our romantic Mongolian style yurt, nestled in the mountains of central Portugal, about one hour inland from the ancient university town of Coimbra. Its self-contained and fully furnished, set in our smallholding of terraced land, which we manage organically. Olives, vines and fruit trees surround the yurt; our own spring provides the water; and energy is solar powered. Whether you’re looking for a lazy rural retreat, or an active holiday in the hills, there’s no better way to get back to nature without foregoing any creature comforts.

So if you are traveling in Europe and want to explore what it would be like to live in a yurt, spend a couple of nights at this great holiday location.

  • The yurt sleeps two with enough space to add two children’s beds if required alternatively we have a very spacious bell tent for hire which comfortably sleeps two, perfect for older children.
  • There’s plenty of space to hang your clothes, rugs on the floor and a chaise longue for relaxing.

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Gertee: Houses made from Scraps

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Niki Raapana is guest posting for us today about the Gertee a house made from scraps:

You’re looking at a disaster that used to be a livable house. Besides the wood, doors and windows, you also see curtains, beddings and other fabrics poking out. Where many people see only a trash pile, I see enormous potential. Why? Because even if the wood is singed and the fabrics have rips, I know that with just a few simple tools, a way to cut the wood and wash the materials, we have the makings for a little temporary house I call gertee.

scraps used for first 16' gertee, spring 2007

Gertees are basically standard yurts made from raw or salvaged materials. Unlike the Mongolian and Western versions (exquisitely crafted and covered in gorgeous fabrics), gertee is the budget variety. It utilizes many items that would otherwise go to the dump.

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Yurt Living in Upstate New York

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I discovered Louis Johnson’s yurt on facebook and contacted him and he agreed to let me share some of his photos of his home. Louis will tell you a little bit about living in a yurt in upstate New York. Their yurt is built by the Colorado Yurt Company.

This winter has proved to be a cold one as well, but we had a better handle on our wood harvesting this year and are in good shape. We estimate that we will use between 3 and 4 cord this year… only one more really cold month to go.

Our PV system is small and has a generator plug in to supplement power when needed. We have not used a generator yet however ~ we choose to reduce our usage instead. We only use our microwave and toaster on very sunny days and supplement our lighting with a propane light and candles if necessary. We save a lot of energy by cooking on the wood stove.

This past year we have made a couple of low tec improvements to the yurt. Earlier last fall we finally got our mulch pit (for gray water) in place, that has been a very big help in getting water out of the yurt, and that enabled us to get an operable shower in the yurt. It may just be a bucket with a bulkhead, but it’s strangely empowering. We continue to heat our water in small batches on the wood stove. (In the summer we heat it in black shower bags and we shower outside.)

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Life in a Yurt – Alaska Style

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Jesse alerted me to this neat article in the New York Times about a couple living in the back country of Alaska in a yurt. It is a very good article “Broadband, Yes. Toilet, No.” and I think you would enjoy reading it. It has no running water or working … Read more

Ultra Efficient Solargon 30

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I’ve covered the Solargon a couple of times before as I think it is a very efficient home and has a very unique design. This home featured here is a 30 foot version and though not a tiny home it fits well into the small home size.

Doug Kirk from Solargon Homes contacted me to let me know that they are having a special Stimulus Sale with big savings on their 20′ and 30′ models. He wanted me to share with you this information. To get all the information visit their site.

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Doug also mentioned that they are happy to say that Bob Sutherland of Sutherland Lumber is the proud owner of a 30’ Solargon with 10’ walls just west of Loveland, Colorado. There are over 60 Sutherland Lumber stores; so Bob could have built any number of buildings for his private mountain family retreat home. So when he decided to assemble a Solargon we asked him why.

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For Love of Yurts

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Bruce Sargent wrote me a while back about a yurt he had built and that he was in the process of putting a book together to tell his story and show others how he built a yurt for less than $1,000.

Here is what Bruce has to say about his book: For yurt lovers everywhere, we’ve created the newest and best book about making an ultra simple, hand-made, yurt-home.

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Ten years ago, at Spirit Hollow, a shamanic school tucked back in the Taconic Mountains of Vermont, I fell in love with yurts.

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