Temporary Housing Part 1: Yurts

In my last post, I talked about the process of building a homestead when you have little to no idea where to start.  Well, this is where I started - temporary housing.  When looking to build a homestead, you will more than likely find yourself in need of temporary housing, especially if you are moving some distance away.  There are many different options out there, some of which, I didn't know about before I began my research..  Each one has their own pro's and con's.  It just all depends on your personal wants and needs.  And some of these that I'm writing about as "temporary" could very easily be used as a permanent home.  I'm also fairly certain that there are still other options out there that I have yet to come across.  In order to keep individual posts relatively short, I am going to break this down and discuss only one, possibly two, of these options per post.  To try to cover them all would make for a very long read.  So, let's get started.

The first type of temporary housing that I'll talk about is a yurt.  If you're not familiar with these little gems, you might want to familiarize yourself.  Yurts have been used for roughly 3000 years by various nomadic groups of people, covering central and eastern Asia.  There is even said to be archaeological evidence that Ghengis Khan and his men lived in yurts.  Traditionally, a yurt has an easily put-together frame of wooden rods that is then covered in layers of wool that had been worked into felt.  They are round with a slightly pitched roof, raising to a high point in the center.  Doorways range from wooden doors (Mongolian yurts) to felt or rugs hanging over the doorway (Turkish yurts).  These are the homes, still in use even today, by people that migrate and move around regularly, mainly those that raise animals that need to move for grazing and such.  Because they move so much, the yurt must be able to go up and come down again quickly and repeatedly, and obviously, easy to move.  Remember, these nomads can cover huge areas, sometimes consisting of hundreds of square miles.

Now, the average person or family in a more modern society is probably not going to be following herds of animals across hundreds of miles, nor will the average person be in need of a dwelling that will go up and down multiple times every season.  But the concept of a yurt is a really good one.  A lattice frame is put up on top of a flat base.  Then roof beams are secured onto the walls, and a covering of "architectural grade fabric" is then attached to the exterior of the walls.  A standard yurt will have one or two windows, which may or may not open, and a single door.  There are a decent variety of sizes, ranging from 6' to 30' in diameter.  And the additions and customizations are numerous.  You choose the color of the exterior, and then, for more money, you can add more windows of different sizes, more doors, a skylight over the center of the roof, a front porch, a "hallway" to connect two or more yurts together, double tall walls, or a special "cut away" to enable securing the chimney for a wood burning stove.  And then there are special packages that different companies offer for varying snow and wind loads.  Different companies offer different things with each individual package, and some won't give you a price until you fill out a custom form.    Now that doesn't make you contractually obligated to purchase what you're putting in there.  Just prepare yourself.  If you're not expecting it, it can take some time.  But it can also be quite fun playing around with different options and ideas.

Yurts can be quite costly.  Of the different companies I've looked at so far, the sizes are comparable.  See here, here, and here for starters.  And there are many more.  When comparing these companies, the prices are generally within a few hundred dollars of each other.  The smaller yurts generally start around $5,000 and go up to $10,000 or more for the larger ones.  Those are the base prices for a standard yurt.  There might be a delivery fee (separate from shipping), or a set-up fee if they have the option of putting the yurt up for you.  Personally, I would not take that option.  Yurts, even these modern ones, are designed to go up quickly and easily.  Most companies provide detailed instructions for building the yurt, and most buyers can put a yurt up themselves in under a day, sometimes in as little as just a couple of hours for the smaller sized yurts.  Apparently, the most time consuming part of the process is building the platform on which the yurt will sit.  And just know that none of the companies I've looked at offer the platform.  You are expected to do that part yourself.

Also remember that the price you are paying is for the yurt and the yurt only.  In all of the pictures on these various sites, you are going to see beautiful interiors, sometimes even marble kitchen counters, walls, and sometimes lofts.  All of these things may help to sell more yurts, but those are things that you provide.  I have not seen a yurt company yet that offers any of the interior elements.  Please keep that in mind if you are looking to purchase a yurt.  This  may or may not be an issue of concern, depending on how much work you can or are willing to do yourself.

So basically, yurts are a great option for speed and convenience, but can be costly to purchase, and even more costly on interior design unless you do the work yourself.  They can be a good investment if you are looking for a more permanent residence, or are planning on using it perhaps as a guest house.  They could probably even be taken camping depending on the base underneath.  I came across one that someone had built onto a small trailer, like the kind used for lawn services.  They can sometimes be found used, like here.  More often than not, they are still in relatively good condition.  And like just about anything else, the better condition it's in, the more you are likely to pay.  At that point, you might do just as well to purchase new.

Finally, there is always the option of building one yourself, completely from scratch.  This option is way less expensive, but also way more time consuming.  It does make the ability of customization much easier, and more flexible.  However, this is something that you're more than likely going to want to keep other uses in mind for down the road if this is going to be temporary for you.  For the work that goes into it, make sure to invest some planning, as well.  Choose a place you'll be happy with on your property, and it can have continued use as a shed, garage, guest house, or anything else you might choose later on.  I'll get into this option a little more in a later post.

So there is one option for consideration in temporary housing as you look to build your homestead.  And this is one that can also be used permanently, if so desired.  There are many many more options to come, so stay tuned.