Anybody on here doing the yurt thing?

I've been working in Wyoming for the last year or so, and there is a huge energy industry boom going on here which is driving the price of housing to outrageous levels. I have found some small 5 or 10 acre plots of land a few miles outside of town and have been thinking about getting a little yurt homestead going. I've wanted to do it since I was a little kid and now seems like as good an opportunity as any.Just kinda looking to talk to some folks that have done it before. I know this won't be a self supporting thing just because there really isn't any water or fuel ( wood) around here, just lots of sagebrush, wind, and cold for a good portion of the year.

 

I live in a yurt for a few weeks out of the year and have built several now, working on my fifth. I wouldn't call Wyoming the best place for a yurt community. In that oart of the world it's difficult to keep a yurt warm even with insulation. You'd have to install weights on the compression ring and lace your covers together and to ground anchors as a wind deterrent, additional uprights on the Khana for the snow load, and a water collection/cistern system or haul water from an offsite source. Not that any of that isn't completely doable. But the cold, the wind, and the snow would make me lean toward building a cabin.

 

Hayduke, in Wyoming this would be a better house:

http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm

Slightly more environmental impact, a lot more work, but you can keep it warm more easily, less chance a brutal storm is going to suddenly relocate you to Montana.

 

That link is definately cool. The problem is that the county I live in won't allow you to build a permanant housing structure outside the city limits on a parcel smaller than 120 or 140 acres, or somewhere around there, I can't remember the exact number. I really have no desire to invest in that large of a property. With a yurt I could probably get by that by saying that it is a hunting camp or something, and not permanant.

 

Ah, yeah that's a tough one. OTOH, that hobbit house, if not facing a developed area, probably wouldn't be seen. Problem is building time, you can't put it up overnight.

 

yeah, another problem would be that it looks like it would take a good supply of wood to build it. I haven't seen a tree taller that 5 feet outside of town for about 30 miles in any direction. Definately a cool concept though.

 

I don’t know much about yerts but I don’t think they would hold up to Wyoming weather. The wind is just so brutal there.
What about an old school bus with straw bales around the bottom? (If you could keep the straw from blowing away).

You would just be storing the school bus of course and not living in it ;-)

Where about in Wyoming are you thinking about making a set up?

 

that link is great, zoomie! what a beautiful, inspiring house and perfectly suited to the climate and resources here in BC. when i think of building my own home (way down the road) i always thought cob would be the best way to go, but that combo of straw, rocks, trees and a hill appeals to me even more.

 

Yeah I was going to build that on a mountain in WV at one time.

 

Zihger, Right now I'm in Rawlins. Its about 150 miles west of Cheyenne. I have thought about the school bus thing. I had one a few years ago that I started converting but kinda lost interest and sold it. Kinda regret it now though.

 

I was just curious because I have been doing some outdoor recreation around Laramie I live in Colorado but the mountains get too many people so it is nice to go to Wyoming sometimes and get some space.
I was kind of wondering about cheap land around there and building codes. I have seen some OK plots of land on the south east side of the hills by the Medicine Bow mountains that look like they get sheltered from the wind but a lot of them already have vacation homes on them and look like people want prime prices for them.
I have a friend that bought property in Centennial, but he doesn’t like being there so he leases it out and travels.
But you should post more on your land venture I am going to be doing some vacations in the medicine bows in Carbon County this summer so the subject is interesting to me.

 

I am from Colorado as well and can totally relate to the mountains down there being too crowded. I have been poking around up here trying to find cheap land too. So far most of the cheap stuff in carbon county is North of Rawlins or West of Rawlins. The best place I have found so far is in the area around Saratoga and Encampment, it is more expensive than the rest of Carbon County but deals can still be found. There is trees there and hills. Its about 40-50 miles away from Rawlins and there is people who commute so I might be able to carpool or something. It is definately an area to check out when you are on your travels. I can't remember the number of the road it is on, but you take the Wolcott Junction exit off of I-80 ( exit 235 if I remember correctly) then go south. Its in between I 80 and Walden, CO. Another area I have been meaning to check out is around the town of Medicine Bow, and around the toen of Elk Mountain.

 

Update:
I have found some 40 acre parcels outside of town that were grandfathered into the new zoning regulations, so they can be built on. I am going to try to get one of these parcels and possibly put a yurt on it while building a cabin during the summer. I am really excited about this prospect.