Yurt Living

Whenever we have a guest over to our place for the first time, I’m reminded that our home is kind of weird. In fact, it’s become sort of standard protocol when greeting a newcomer in our driveway, that for the first several minutes of our initial dialogue, their eyes won’t even be looking at my face, but rather over my shoulder at our odd house.

And I don’t blame them. How can you stand in the presence of the structure pictured above and NOT be struck by a litany of questions:

“I thought we were going to be having dinner at a house. That’s not a house, that’s a tent on stilts.”

“Why is that weird tent built in a CIRCLE? Circles don’t have CORNERS. Houses need corners!”

“Why is that door 4 feet off the ground? Am I going to be required to perform feats of agility just to get inside?!”

“Are these people refugees?”

I’ll try to clear up some of those initial questions, and then I’ll take you inside the structure for a little tour.

Our home is not just a yurt.1Modern-day yurts are based heavily on the design of their predecessor, the Mongolian round house. It is actually comprised of TWO yurts, joined together by a more traditional stick-built middle. And, though it looks like a tent, it is actually a legitimate structure, fully inspected and built to code.

The roundness of the yurts is part of their genius. Much like how the spokes on a bike give stability and strength to the wheel by all pushing outward and creating balanced tension on the outer rim, the roof of the yurt is doing the same thing.

All of the rafters are resting on a large metal cable that is encircling the structure just below the roofline. With all of the rafters angled up and pushing against each other, the roof can handle a robust snow-load without any issues.2It also sheds snow pretty quickly and effectively, so it’s not that big of an issue anyway.

It’s also worth pointing out that it’s not totally finished yet. We still have some siding to put up, some stairs and decks to add, and we’re planning on eventually closing up the underneath. So, if you find your eyes lingering on the pallet that is functioning as our side stairway and thinking, “That doesn’t look like a culturally different approach to entrance and egress. That looks like crap.” Then I wholeheartedly agree with you. We’re hoping to update that feature in the Spring. 

So, yes, some of the oddness of the house is objective. It’s a different sort of dwelling. But it’s kind of funny, because some of its oddities are also thoroughly in the eye of the beholder. It doesn’t take a whole lot, apparently, to totally throw off someone’s perspective.

One time, when giving a tour to a couple, after fielding all of the typical structural questions, the husband pointed up at the peak of our ceiling and asked, “What about the propeller, what does that do?” It took me a second to realize that he was serious before I responded, “That’s our ceiling fan. We use that to circulate air…”

OK, Seth, you’ve shared a bit about WHAT a yurt is, but WHY live in one?

One of the main plus factors of yurt living is that they can be considerably cheaper than more traditional homes. My3Seth’s younger brother is the one who started this project a few years ago, and he and his wife were able to begin with just one yurt. As their budget allowed, they were able to add to that original structure fairly easily.4They ended up relocating, and we took over the project when it was around 70% completed. We are even toying with the idea of one day adding a third yurt to give us better guest accomodations!

Another aspect that we absolutely LOVE is that cathedral ceilings are an intrinsic part of a yurt. A dome-like roof just FEELS bigger. With our main living area being just one HUGE space, it adds an element of beauty and enjoyment to the home that we really appreciate.

And, though the circle-thing is a little weird at first, it really starts to grow on you after a while. There is just something fun about being in a room with a wall that doesn’t end!

We’re still figuring out our heating situation a little. We have radiant flooring throughout the house, which is awesome. And the furnace is fueled with wood that we are able to harvest right off of our property, so it’s nice and cost-effective.5Or, rather, it WILL be cost-effective, once I figure out how better plan for winter. I came up a little bit short on our wood again this year, I think, so we’re going to have to buy a little more seasoned stuff. But we are experiencing somewhat drastic temperature differences throughout the three “zones” of our house. There’s a good chance that we’re going to have to do something to add a little bit more R-factor to our yurt ceilings, I’m thinking. 

Our “sleeping yurt” is a bit smaller than our living yurt, so our bedrooms are a little smaller than the national average, but we’re ok with that. The boys’ room is a mirror image of ours, but with three beds instead of one.6There is no picture of their room that I’m allowed to share, because the last time it was “presentable” we forgot to take a picture. We have one bathroom, so that keeps things fun. Nothing brings a family together like daily competition for the ability to expel bodily waste in peace.

So, in summary, our house is pretty weird as far as dwellings go. But it is also SUPER COOL, and we are incredibly grateful for it. If you are toying with the idea of building your own place, then I would highly encourage you to think outside of the box7Yeah, that’s kind of a lame pun, but I’m keeping it. and consider yurt living!