Yurts?

[montanadave]

My wife and I are looking for some recreational property in the country. Most of the properties we have checked out range from 60 to 200 acres in size. Some are high country timber and meadows, some are creek and river acreage. Our immediate plans are to use the property for weekend camping and occasional get-out-of-town escapes for a week here and there. Depending on circumstances, we might also contemplate building a small home on the property for retirement. I have the fantasy of building a straw bale or earth-bermed home and having it completely off the grid but that's a whole different discussion. :laugh:

But for the immediate future, I am looking at different options for temporary housing on the property which would provide us a place to comfortably stay while we get to know the property and evaluate possible permanent home building sites.

I am intrigued with the idea of putting up a yurt on a well-constructed elevated deck structure. Some manufacturers offer yurts with insulation packages, reinforced roofing and sidewalls to sustain snow loads and high winds, etc. (http://www.yurts.com/default.aspx). The price for a 16' yurt with all the trimmings runs about $8500 and I imagine I could put the whole shebang together for around ten grand.

Anybody ever stay in a yurt or have any experience with them? I'd be interested in hearing anyone's impressions on this style of housing.

[Reagans Rascals]

That actually looks like the best possible choice for a secluded, off-the-grid type of structure.... depending on if you wanted to conceal it you could always almost dig a 30' diameter hole and partially sink it down and have almost a little bunker type of hut.

I was thinking of maybe getting a few conex boxes and painting them with an epoxy sealer and burying them out in my property in the trees for a shtf type of shelter underground, but these actually look fairly appealing...

Partially bury it , throw a net and some veg over it and you're be hard to spot from the ground or the air

[DeltaSierra]

I had the opportunity to "yurt sit" for some friends a while back

It was a small - about 20 feet across, homebuilt yurt. In the dead of winter, it was very warm, and felt much larger than it was.


Overall, I was very impressed (as were the owners) with how comfortable it was to live in.

I would definitely go with a yurt if I could, in fact, I prefer it to a normal house...

[Nightvisionary]

There are a ton very nice and newer used 27-34 foot travel trailers on craigslist for under 10K. The yurt sounds pretty nice but you will need to add the platform/floor, appliances plumbing and furniture to the cost.

The trailer won't be as spacious but it's mobile, ready to use and much easier to re-sell should you decide to do something else with the property in the future.

[DeltaSierra]

That actually looks like the best possible choice for a secluded, off-the-grid type of structure.... depending on if you wanted to conceal it you could always almost dig a 30' diameter hole and partially sink it down and have almost a little bunker type of hut.

I was thinking of maybe getting a few conex boxes and painting them with an epoxy sealer and burying them out in my property in the trees for a shtf type of shelter underground, but these actually look fairly appealing...

Partially bury it , throw a net and some veg over it and you're be hard to spot from the ground or the air

The issue with sinking it into the ground would be that the walls are not strong enough to withstand the back pressure off a couple tons of earth.

The idea of the net is excellent though, and if you are in a wooded area, you would be surprised how well the yurt would blend in due to the non-rectangular shape, if a net were thrown over it.


If you want to sink a structure into the ground, look at Mike Oehler's $50 and up underground house book.


http://www.undergroundhousing.com/

[DeltaSierra]

There are a ton very nice and newer used 27-34 foot travel trailers on craigslist for under 10K. The yurt sounds pretty nice but you will need to add appliances plumbing and furniture to the cost.

The trailer won't be as spacious but it's mobile, ready to use and much easier to re-sell should you decide to do something else with the property in the future.

No, the yurt will be easy to sell. There are quite a few people that are really into yurts, and montanadave would have no problem whatsoever if he ever wanted to sell his yurt.

With the yurt, you put in a composting toilet (or, better yet a sawdust toilet. Yes, it is as simple as it sounds - a five gallon bucket with a toiled seat on top. After every use you sprinkle a couple cups of sawdust in the bucket - no smell at all...) and a woodstove, or a small gas stove, and you are set.

There is no comparing the comfort level of a yurt, to the comfort level of a narrow, smelly, travel trailer. The yurt feels at least twice as big as it actually is, and is easily livable for long periods of time...

[montanadave]

There are a ton very nice and newer used 27-34 foot travel trailers on craigslist for under 10K. The yurt sounds pretty nice but you will need to add the platform/floor, appliances plumbing and furniture to the cost.

The trailer won't be as spacious but it's mobile, ready to use and much easier to re-sell should you decide to do something else with the property in the future.

The problem with a trailer is access. One of the properties in the running has a stream cutting across it and the spot I would likely put the yurt would be on the far side. If I were to build a permanent structure there it would require building a vehicle bridge and that is prohibitively costly at this stage of the game.

I can pack quite a bit across a foot bridge. A 27'-34' would likely bust my ass pretty good. :laugh:

On a strictly aesthetic level, having a trailer sitting out in the meadow just goes against my grain. Whatever I place on the property, I want to blend in and not detract from the natural beauty of the property. Might sound a little "hippy" to some but I like the look of the land and really want to minimize the man-made shit cluttering up the countryside. After all, that's why I'm looking to buy it in the first place.

[Honu]

never lived in one but they are popular in up country Maui and had some friends that lived in them and been in them etc..

some are pretty nice actually

I think depending on money etc. would be cool to do a nice concrete basement kinda system more like a cellar and have a nice platform on top where you could get access to it build it in a way it can also be used as a good cellar in the future and build a nice log cabin over the top

that way you have a great long term survival type thing with a cellar and a nice portable place to live

later on you end up with a nice log cabin that would be great small house guest house etc...

[HES]

Yurts look cool and nifty and I wouldnt mind a vacation in one. My wife on the other hand is nuts about them and wants to sell our house to live in a yurt. The kids and I have threatened her with divorce. So far we are barely winning.

[Irish]

Journal of the Yurt - Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e47NMAsvNag&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SPB5380C2563119249

[montanadave]

Journal of the Yurt - Check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e47NMAsvNag&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SPB5380C2563119249

Nice find! That dude might be going a tad more "rustic" than what I've got in mind but I definitely like his style. Me? I'm gonna need a separate bucket for my latrine and my cookware. :laugh:

A yurt might actually be in my future. Our offer on a little over two hundred acres was accepted right before Christmas. With a little luck, we might be the proud owners of a small country spread by mid-February.

[Irish]

A yurt might actually be in my future. Our offer on a little over two hundred acres was accepted right before Christmas. With a little luck, we might be the proud owners of a small country spread by mid-February.

Congratulations! The guy in the videos is the dude from the show Dual Survival. The beginning's a lil boring and I only watched the first 5 but it does get more interesting. Episode 3 teaches you how to make hard tack.

[Evil Colt 6920]

I have never heard of a yurt until now:confused: I must say, sign me up! I am nearing a land purchase and I think this would be perfect to live in while I build a home. The wife has already claimed it as her gym/yoga room once we move into our newly bulit home. Very interesting, thanks for posting this!