The word ‘Yurt House’ has been in buzz lately. As people all around the world are becoming increasingly aware of the impact human settlements have on the environment. This is generating the desire to switch to minimal sustainable homes is increasing. Hence, yurt houses are becoming popular. This article sheds light on 23 yurt house ideas and why it’s worth having one.
What is a Yurt?
A yurt house is a circular minimal home that is made using a flexible lattice and covered with a fabric or similar materials. Originally, it was a nomadic tribal house of the Mongolian community of central Asia. The primary purpose of this house was to provide shelter and also serve as a portable home for the nomadic community.
Yurt houses are typically easily assemblable and dismantlable. Traditionally, they were made up of a wooden lattice and covered in animal skin, wood felt, or fabric with traditional cultural symbols. This tribe traversed through the steppes of Central Asia that faced severe winds. The only form that could sustain such harsh conditions was the circular form, and that’s what created this distinct house style.
In modern times, yurt houses serve as sustainable vacation homes or even family homes. They are tweaked to create more comfortable, durable, weather-resilient homes. Available both as temporary portable or permanent durable homes, modern yurt homes are also becoming popular as luxurious glamping accommodations.
Why You Should Buy a Yurt?
- Yurt homes have several advantages over normal rectangular homes.
- They have a smaller footprint and are thus sustainable.
- They can be easily assembled and dismantled as required.
- They are portable and can travel with you across places.
- They cost you way less than conventional homes.
- They encourage and facilitate a minimal lifestyle.
How to Build a Yurt?
Depending on the type of yurt you opt for, the construction method will vary. A traditional yurt or a modern yurt tent is the easiest to construct and can be assembled in merely two hours. Typically, the construction of a yurt home will involve the following components:
- Base: A yurt home requires a steady base to rest over. In traditional yurt homes, a compacted piece of flat land served as a base. Modern yurt houses use a wooden, or steel deck, or sometimes concrete pad as the base.
- Lattice wall: A closely knit lattice wall makes the circular-shaped yurt home. Traditionally, wood was used to make this lattice grid, but in modern yurt homes, steel is also used. These walls are made using smaller pieces that can be dismantled and transported to other places as required.
- Trellis Frame: A circular frame called a trellis frame runs around the floor covering holding the lattice in place.
- Roof Structure: Bent poles that support the roof are tied together by a compression ring. This is the main supporting structure of a yurt roof.
- Crown: The main roof crown sits on the top of bent roof columns that are shaped like sunbeams. They typically have a few openings for the circulation of air in the interiors.
- Internal Structure: Internal walls, doors and window frames, etc. come under the internal structure of a yurt home.
- Covering: The wall covering can be made using any dynamic material. A few common covering options include felt fabrics, wood shingles, canvas, plastic coated fabric, glass, etc.
- Flooring: The flooring material could be made from staple tiles, stones, or wood. A multitude of options is available to choose from.
- Services: If you want to create a permanent yurt, you will need to get expert help to get proper services installed. Water supply, drainage, cooking gas supply, etc. should be considered before building the yurt home.
Yurt kits are readily available nowadays which have made it easy to build sustainable homes. Several companies provide hyper-personalized yurt houses on a budget.
How Much Does a Yurt Cost?
The cost of building a yurt will depend solely on how simple or complex the design of the house is. A smaller simpler yurt home can cost somewhere around $3000-4000. A large complex yurt home can cost up to $10,000.
The luxurious variants will that come with all the necessary plumbing and heating measures tend to cost higher. These have no upper limit, you can go as high as you like with the budget. Prefabricated yurt kits are relatively cost-efficient, as opposed to conventional custom-built yurt houses.
Nonetheless, yurt homes are extremely budget-friendly than most typically modern homes. These are liveable abodes encouraging a simpler, minimal, and nomadic lifestyle.
20+ Exciting Yurt House Ideas to Stir Your Next Adventure
1. Yurt Kit
Catching up with the modern trend of yurt homes, companies have started selling prefabricated yurt house kits. These are modern adaptations of traditional yurt houses that are easy to assemble and durable. They are highly customizable, weather-resistant, and comfortable homes. Yurt kits come with different options of internal layout, size, structural lattice, shell, door, window, roofs, etc. They can be dismantled easily as well.
2. Permanent Yurt House
Traditional yurt houses used to be portable and dismantlable. New-age yurt houses can become permanent homes. These will need some form of permanent foundation to anchor them at the desired location. They are made using durable materials like wood or steel as the primary structural material. A permanent yurt house can be custom-made to suit any and every house need.
3. Wooden Yurt House
A wooden yurt house uses wood as the primary material. Generally, it will consist of a structural lattice of flexible wooden poles placed on a wooden platform and covered in wooden shingles. The roofing members can also be made using wood. The wood should be treated to make the home weatherproof.
4. Yurt Cabins
Single or multi-room yurt cabins are rapidly gaining popularity. Generally smaller in size, these are designed to make people feel cozy in the interior. Several minimally designed hotels and resorts are made up of yurt cabins. They can be made using materials like wood, canvas, tarpaulin, glass, etc. They can be permanent or dismantlable yurt homes.
5. Yurt Quarters
A cluster of yurt cabins makes a yurt cluster. Yurt quarters are settlements made up of yurt houses. The Ger district on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar is a residential district with several yurt homes forming clusters. In the modern era, a similar concept can be used to create colonies or glamping resorts.
6. Customized Geodesic Yurt
This geodesic yurt home is an exceptional, quirky, and unconventional type of yurt house. Made using galvanized steel lattice, it is clad in glass and PVC-coated polyester. It has numerous glorious features as it is water resilient, sound-proof, fire-proof, etc. This makes it ideal for an ultra-luxe glamping experience in the woods, or as a vacation home.
7. Traditional Mongolian Yurt
Authentic traditional yurt homes have their origin in central Asia. The Mongolian tribal homes were made using wood and fabric. These fabrics are often adorned with elements that symbolize the culture and the tribe’s identity. In old times, animal skin or wood felt was also used as a cover owing to its great insulation abilities.
8. Modern Yurt Home
Deviating slightly from the traditional circular yurt houses, modern yurt homes explore different shapes of yurts. The conical form of the roof is used as a defining principle of this yurt home. The three yurt cabins seamlessly flow into one another with connecting passages. Quite simply, it is a permanent tent-like charming abode.
9. Luxurious Yurt House
Yurt houses can be elaborate too! Like the one here, this modern luxurious yurt home sits on the edge of a lake having a panoramic view of the stunning surroundings. To have a minimal impact on the environment, this home is made up of two yurts connected via a breezeway.
It is a multi-stored retirement home that exemplifies the possibility and use of yurt homes. The house is a permanent yurt home built primarily in steel, and glass.
10. Earth and Cement Yurt House
You can make your minimal sustainable yurt houses greener, by covering them in earth and cement plaster. This method has many advantages as it is more energy efficient. Earth and cement yurt homes help insulate the homes better thus helping sustain the harsh climatic conditions.
11. Portable Yurt House
The primary purpose of the original nomadic yurt homes was to be portable. Following the same principle, modern portable yurt homes can be easily shifted as and when required. These homes do not have a permanent foundation, however, they do require a steady base to rest on.
12. Yurt Tent
In line with the original yurt homes that were covered in wood felt or fabric, the modern tent yurt houses are also covered in durable fabric. Designed for use as a camping accommodation, this yurt home is the most minimal form of a house out there. Adaptations can be made by introducing insulating materials to make these homes comfortable and weather-appropriate.
13. Canvas Yurt Tent
Canvas yurt homes are similar to tent yurt homes, except these are further downsized versions of them. The primary material is the fabric itself, making this an appropriate choice for temporary shelters. These are not ideal for places with extreme weather conditions.
14. Multi-Storeyed Yurt Home
A yurt home can do everything a regular home does. It doesn’t need to be a single-storey cabin, it can be a large multi-storeyed family home. Like the one here, it is a large yurt homemade in wood. The elevated deck is anchored on the permanent cement platform. The closely knit wooden structural grid with ample windows and wood shingles define this elaborate yurt home.
15. Contemporary Square Yurt House
A novel that takes on the classic circular yurt house, this phenomenal home combines the charm of a circular yurt with the functionality of a rectangular contemporary home. The rustic charm of the exposed wood lattice alongside the black yurt makes it all the more appealing. The house is beautifully crafted to fit all the necessary functions of a regular modern home.
16. Tiny Single-Room Yurt Home
Yurt houses can be used as alternative accommodations alongside larger homes or as single-room farmhouses. If the ultimate aim is to create a charming minimal home, this type of tiny yurt home is the perfect way to do so. The construction materials can vary and be chosen as the situation demands.
17. Transitional Yurt House
Transitional yurt homes are a mid-way between traditional wood and fabric yurt homes and out-of-the-box contemporary yurt homes. For instance, the one above follows the shape and shell material palette of a traditional home. However, the connecting bridge, the roofing materials, and the permanent base make it like a modern home.
18. Modern Steel-Glass Yurt House
Modern yurt homes use modern materials like steel and glass. They are also many times permanent and durable. The material palette makes these homes comfortable, minimal, and elegant-looking. They are great for building in places with gorgeous surrounding views.
19. Weather Resilient Yurt House
The circular shape of the yurt is capable of withstanding extreme winds. However, it is not sufficient to sustain the home in extreme weather conditions. Modern yurt houses need to be adequate to tolerate the harsh extremities. Depending on the region, these homes should incorporate additional features. Be it a stronger foundation, proper insulation, or water and snow-resistant roofing and covering materials.
20. Classic Wood-Canvas Yurt Home
A modern adaptation of the simple traditional yurt house, this classic yurt home is constructed in wood and canvas. It rests on a steady wooden base and is portable. The house has the classic charm of a yurt with a simple clean aesthetic.
21. Grand Yurt Mansion
The saga of elaborate yurt houses is taken to the next level with this luxurious yurt mansion. Made using a combination of classic yurt homes and country homes, this grand house has an enchanting appeal. The sustainable home defies the notion of a yurt home while creating a grand statement.
22. Elevated Yurt House
An elevated yurt home is the ideal minimal home for a risky terrain. The platform deck rests on a group of stilts or piles that are the main anchoring support of the home. The house can be multi-stored with one floor below and one above the hanging deck. The shell should have ample windows to maximize the views and sightlines of the home.
23. Yurt with a View
Yet another perfect destination yurt home is the one with a glass roof. This maximizes the indoor light inside, allows the rest of the house to be treated as an earth berm, and provides a panoramic view of the picturesque surrounding. Using natural materials like earth, or stone creates a home that is in-line with the surrounding landscape.
Yurt Houses are Versatile Sustainable Homes…
From small camping tents to luxurious mansions, the concept of a yurt home can be used to create any and every type of home. These eco-friendly cozy dwellings bring can bring one close to nature comfortably.
FAQs:
A yurt house is a circular minimal home that is made using a flexible lattice and covered with a fabric or similar materials.
A yurt house is an eco-friendly, cost-efficient, versatile, flexible, and comfortable home.
There are several parts of a yurt house. These include the base, the lattice, the covering, the crown, and other internal members.
A minimal yurt home can cost around $3000 to 4000 dollars.
Yurt houses can last anywhere between 8 to 15 years. Sometimes even longer if the materials used are of good quality.
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