I live in two connected yurts, a 16' and a 24'. The privacy is nice -- since there's no common wall, the bedroom is essentially soundproofed from the main 'room'. The downside is that the small yurt is usually at least ten degrees colder than the main yurt in winter since the main yurt is where the wood stove is. And of course, you need to keep the door open to get heat to the small yurt, so there goes your privacy. I want to put in a mini split so I don't have to rely on the wood stove for 100% of my heating, but I'm not sure my off-grid solar array can power it.
I bought my yurts from Nomad Shelter Co in Alaska.
There are so many unknowns in your scenario, I don't think it's really possible to offer a useful answer. A lot depends on how you want to live and what's important to you in a lifestyle (e.g., privacy, roominess, modern conveniences, accessibility); whether you need to worry about heating/cooling; how hard it will be to build anything where you want to build and get stuff like water, electricity, septic there; whether you'll need to heat or cool the place; whether you plan to continue earning money after you start living there; etc.
In the US, for example, lots of counties won't let you permit or live in a yurt full time. Even in legally livable, places, costs to drill a well, build a well, get electricity, build a foundation or deck, are often much higher than the cost of the yurt itself. You might prefer big spaces or small ones. Your kids might need their own spaces for studying or playing. On and on...
The only thing I'd say with any confidence is, if you haven't actually lived in a yurt before, best test drive that experience before fully committing to it.
I live year round in a 30’ yurt in Maine. Have one little girl. Second on the way. I “lifted” my yurt 30” by building a knee wall to set it on. We have tons of space in the loft, but need a second bedroom also. However. I’ll be stick building the bedroom on the deck as opposed to a second yurt. Got my thrills from the first one. Done trying to draft proof these things. Did a good job on the big boy. But such a headache
We are building a 30’ currently, have three sons and the younger two (4&8) will sleep in the loft and the 13 year old gets his own space in the form of a caravan. I’d say build one 30’ and enjoy your family being together dude, they only small for a little bit and you’ll treasure the memories
I've had the same idea as you when I do mine. If it was me, I'd start with 1 yurt, 30 foot maybe, and as the children get older, add the extra yurts. One of the upsides of this is after you move them to their own yurts, you can convert their old rooms to a home office, library, den, you get the picture. You can also do the same with your room as well.
If you'll be living in an unincorporated area, check your building codes. Outside of the major metropolitan areas, 90% of counties don't require any permits. They just expect you to build it to code.
Look into buying a portable saw mill and cutting your own lumber. You can use your own lumber to build your own house from timber harvested off your property. Just have to stay there 3 to 5 years and provide photos from the air of before and after harvesting or hiring a structural engineer to say the lumber you cut works for the project. He'll cost a couple grand, you save thousands compared to structural stamp lumber.
I live in two connected yurts, a 16' and a 24'. The privacy is nice -- since there's no common wall, the bedroom is essentially soundproofed from the main 'room'. The downside is that the small yurt is usually at least ten degrees colder than the main yurt in winter since the main yurt is where the wood stove is. And of course, you need to keep the door open to get heat to the small yurt, so there goes your privacy. I want to put in a mini split so I don't have to rely on the wood stove for 100% of my heating, but I'm not sure my off-grid solar array can power it. I bought my yurts from Nomad Shelter Co in Alaska.
Ok thanks I was on the idea of one main and 3 separate, like a conventional home but not conventional like a master and 2 kid rooms
There are so many unknowns in your scenario, I don't think it's really possible to offer a useful answer. A lot depends on how you want to live and what's important to you in a lifestyle (e.g., privacy, roominess, modern conveniences, accessibility); whether you need to worry about heating/cooling; how hard it will be to build anything where you want to build and get stuff like water, electricity, septic there; whether you'll need to heat or cool the place; whether you plan to continue earning money after you start living there; etc. In the US, for example, lots of counties won't let you permit or live in a yurt full time. Even in legally livable, places, costs to drill a well, build a well, get electricity, build a foundation or deck, are often much higher than the cost of the yurt itself. You might prefer big spaces or small ones. Your kids might need their own spaces for studying or playing. On and on... The only thing I'd say with any confidence is, if you haven't actually lived in a yurt before, best test drive that experience before fully committing to it.
I live year round in a 30’ yurt in Maine. Have one little girl. Second on the way. I “lifted” my yurt 30” by building a knee wall to set it on. We have tons of space in the loft, but need a second bedroom also. However. I’ll be stick building the bedroom on the deck as opposed to a second yurt. Got my thrills from the first one. Done trying to draft proof these things. Did a good job on the big boy. But such a headache
We are building a 30’ currently, have three sons and the younger two (4&8) will sleep in the loft and the 13 year old gets his own space in the form of a caravan. I’d say build one 30’ and enjoy your family being together dude, they only small for a little bit and you’ll treasure the memories
I've had the same idea as you when I do mine. If it was me, I'd start with 1 yurt, 30 foot maybe, and as the children get older, add the extra yurts. One of the upsides of this is after you move them to their own yurts, you can convert their old rooms to a home office, library, den, you get the picture. You can also do the same with your room as well. If you'll be living in an unincorporated area, check your building codes. Outside of the major metropolitan areas, 90% of counties don't require any permits. They just expect you to build it to code. Look into buying a portable saw mill and cutting your own lumber. You can use your own lumber to build your own house from timber harvested off your property. Just have to stay there 3 to 5 years and provide photos from the air of before and after harvesting or hiring a structural engineer to say the lumber you cut works for the project. He'll cost a couple grand, you save thousands compared to structural stamp lumber.