Amazing Modern Yurt Is A Design Marvel

one of my favorite forms of traditional housing is the yurt and today here in the Pacific Northwest we're about to meet one couple who has taken this very traditional design and given it a modern edge [Music] hey Nicole how's it going great to meet you g'day how's it going mate good this is just such a neat place that you've built here thank you very much no it's yeah so you actually spent a couple of years living out of your van before you did this project that is true yes I had a old cargo van and that was converted and built a website documenting the whole build process called the van Yule and just last year decided to retire that and build this one here so the yet is tiny house living take two yes exactly version 2.0 so what was it that inspired the yurt project well I got a job in Portland which was the first inspiration to moving here and we decided to do something a little bit different than living traditionally as we had been yeah we considered a bunch of different options you know was obviously the tiny house maybe like converting a chicken coop or there was that used submarine that was on Craigslist yeah yeah but ultimately we went with the yurt you know yours have such a unique rich history and a unique construction process and so we wanted to kind of experience what that was like we were inspired to do this project to downsize our living space and also we were looking for a design challenge and also just a building challenge and so with the yurt that provided both of those things I would say 99% of all yurts looked very similar and so that presented an opportunity to kind of put our own twist on things and it was kind of our opportunity to bring your into the 21st century and make it look like a modern contemporary space that people that normally wouldn't imagine themselves living in a yurt could potentially imagine themselves living in this one so what was the process of building the yurt like it was definitely unique one being that it's round so you have to consider that so that kind of inspired the loft and builded room in the center so it definitely took a lot of consideration with how we were going to build the rooms and the living space to not seem so open and actually have some design aspect to it and building the exterior structure I mean is unlike building almost any other structure around I mean it's it's got these lattice walls that kind of extend out and then these rafters that sit on that lattice and go to the ring and you know we've had all of our closest friends and family out for a weekend to build the exterior structure I mean it was quite collaborative and you know it was just a fun time because most of our friends don't have any experience building anything so it was all like a learning process and totally DIY do-it-yourself this time around and it was a challenge for sure but we definitely learned things along the way you're definitely taking it out with the building puns there right it's one of my specialties it certainly is and was it quite easy for you to find a place to build it yet yeah we didn't really have a whole lot of time to find property to build this on so we were just looking at Craigslist for hours trying to find some sort of land that someone was leasing buying property was out of our budget at this current point in time and we found this beautiful property that is about 25 acres releasing just a small postage stamp for the yurt but I mean the nature around us is really nice being so close to the city and can you walk me through what it took to actually prepare the site to construct the yurt on top of it yeah so when I got here there was absolutely nothing there was just overgrown blackberries you know so I had to clear that all out try to level it as much as I could and then once that was clear going to the actual construction process a yard of this size sits on footings and so there are twelve footings underneath the yurts that are three feet deep into the ground and that's what the subframe sits on and then the sit panels of the platform sit on that subframe and then obviously the yurt sits on that platform and what is the size of the yet I mean it's about seven hundred and thirty square feet and then the loft adds another about two hundred square feet to that well I think from the exterior this looks like such a neat project that you've done and I cannot wait to see the inside can we have a look let's take a look all right after you welcome this is fantastic I really like the way that you've designed everything around this central cube unit yeah we wanted to do something quite different than most other yurts and a lot of yurts that are built they like to keep this space wide open no walls or rooms but we really wanted this space to be functional and so we have the bathroom inside this room and then the loft on top so the loft itself is kind of this unique circular structure to kind of match the obviously circular structure that we're living in which I have not seen done before so we wanted to maintain a modern look to the yurt but we wanted to also incorporate some color and so we decided to do that with the greenery of the plant yeah and then you know we try to keep the color palette pretty muted neutral and then you know bring that pop of color with the monster Azure the philodendron that are up on the loft and it's nice how you've got all of the lattice work exposed in here as well yeah I mean most yurts they have natural colored lattice and depending on the wood it kind of has like an orange II look to it so we definitely didn't want to hide the last because it is quite striking and unique of a geometric pattern inside the ER but we wanted to just kind of subdue it and not have it be such an overpowering element to the design in the feel of the space and obviously here in Portland as well and can get pretty cold talk to me about the way that the yurt is insulated it's double insulated with reflectix on the outside which is contained in between the interior and the exterior and then we also have a wood stove that we use to keep it warm in the winter months yeah it gets a little nippy during the December January February and the stove has been kind of godsend during those times but still you know keeping with the whole contemporary vibe and you know nice and minimalist wood stove and then here upon entering we've got your living room we wanted a space where we could spend a lot of our time during the day and away from distractions so instead of a TV we just have our big French doors and have more than enough entertainment watching outside of there I've become I didn't think I would say this but I've become quite quite the bird watcher everyone needs a hobby we finally found it baby and then here in the the living space this couch pulls out into a full-size mattress and so when we have friends and family visiting they have a place to stay and it's been great to have a revolving door of people that we admire the most coming see the gorillas and then you've got a really great office space set up as well when we were designing the space we didn't really know what we wanted to do with this last little section and I got a little selfish and in a home office and honestly it's been fantastic just having my own little space that I can work during the day do a lot of work from home from New York and you know I can hear the birds obviously but you know the sunshine shining through the window and just fresh air it's just been a great working environment so yeah bookshelves got my nice whiteboard here I'm a compulsive list maker so it's always been nice to be able to make a list of the list that I have to make and we documented the whole year build for a website that we made called do it your itself so we created the website all of that stuff has been done from this desk right here which is kind of awesome to build something like that inside the year it's and then we've got your kitchen over here yeah you know what's nice about this space is that even though we have a loft and then we have you know a room inside of here we're able to walk all the way around without any obstructions it provides a really natural flow and movement to the whole space inside so we wanted to maintain the function of the kitchen but also keep it minimal so we still are able to use our convection oven to roast a chicken or to bake cookies and we also have the cooktop that we can use to boil water fry eggs so we can still do everything in the kitchen but we have kept the counter space minimal and then you've got the island here as well yeah this is uh this is actually kind of our cooking space but also where we eat all of our meals and when we have guests over we all eat around here and it's kind of a nice natural like being able to just cook and eat and talk and hang out all in one one little spot so yeah it's wonderful and tell me about the services here what do you do for electricity and water yeah so we are I like to say we're conscientiously on the grid we're not off the grid so we are hooked into power from the city and everything in here from the lights to the outlets to the water here it all runs off of 30 amps so it's not a lot and then the water is from a well so it's definitely well water it tastes like water and it stains everything so that's why we have this year for our drinking water and then inside the cube here is your bathroom can we have a little we've done yes so we obviously wanted our bathroom to be private and that's why we kind of made this room and then it just is accessed through a pocket door we wanted to incorporate the lattice pattern in other places in the year so we kind of decorated the door with the lattice pattern that you see on the walls it's a nice touch thank you motion activated lights make it really nice at night yeah this is our bathroom which is more than enough space than than we gained it was interesting to design how much space we need at the very beginning you know with just either 3d models or tape on the ground we didn't really quite know how it feel in the physical space so this is quite roomy and we have obviously our sink vanity to the right we have our closet it's kind of our you know everyone says to be minimalist you need to get rid of all your things but the truth is you just need to hide it all and so it's all hidden in here and it's kind of our junk closet it's got our clothes I think it's got sleeping bags camping gear her old bassoon is in there oh wow everything you need all the essentials and then as you can tell the the fan is humidity controlled the lights come on with an occupancy sensor so just as we walk in they turn on our shower is over here it's got an a wonderful orange patina thanks to the well water that we have and we typically only try to clean that off when we have special guests like famous youtubers from New Zealand I'll expect it to be sparkly then and then over here we have the compost toilet from separate I mean we've had no problems with it we've actually quite enjoyed using it and then above us we've got the sleeping loft and I'm really interested to see how you pulled this one off so we accessed the loft which is our bedroom through this loft ladder here it's great for vertically challenged people like us but you watch your head when you're going up I'm gonna have some fun with it this is really cool definitely a squeeze coming up here yeah my gosh look at all the plants that is such a nice feature yeah I mean it's it's kind of our little Garden of Eden up here having a nice Oasis it is a pain to water all these plants they are in fact all real so that's my my duty is watering the plants upstairs she waters the plants downstairs it's pretty Aaron minimal up here it's pretty much only a space that we use for sleeping so we just have our bed here there is power up here so we can charge our phones and what else do we charge max boom yeah our old 1970s boombox when we want to listen to some cool J also up here but I mean the great thing is like sleeping here under this massive ring and being able to see I mean you can see the stars at night here are the Owls exactly and it does make for a rude awakening in the morning when the Sun is just blasting your eyes but sleeping in is not an option here nope nope and how long have you been living in the yet now we've been living in the year for six months now and how are you finding life here we love it yeah we've enjoyed spending it together spending time in here together and spending time with all of our friends and family along the way to wake up in a space that we built and designed is really surreal and I think the most special part of that is that our friends helped us build many different parts of this yurt along our journey and so that's something that we kind of feel that is very special to us in that way and then can we talk about the budget that was involved in bringing this project to life so I think for the actual your structure itself is about $31,000 the platform that it sits on adds another 10,000 and then the internal structure this loft all the furniture and appliances probably added another 20 to 25 thousand so all I know is you know it's a pretty good chunk of change the reason that I'm documenting these builds and creating these guides for people to follow along is I really want to encourage people to actually go out and experiment with building their own space when you go through that process it fundamentally changes how you look at the built environment around you you know you start to notice all the little things that are in someone's house or in a building that you walk into we went into a taqueria that had really tall sea I was like can you imagine putting drywall up this entire ceiling it just I mean that's something that you wouldn't you wouldn't recognize if you hadn't built your own space before that and so what does the future hold for you both now yeah you're actually meeting us at the tail end of this journey you know we were most interested in the actual construction process what it was like to build a yurt and be able to kind of put our own little spin on it and I think we've we've achieved that and so now we are probably gonna be selling the yurt and finding a new good home for it and then moving on to our next adventure whatever that might be we're taking suggestions tiny house living 3.0 feet yes submarine trio's there's a lot of different options you've both done such a great job with the design and build of this house I think you've taken a really unique traditional home and given it a wonderful modern edge thank you both so much for sharing it with me Zach and Nicole set out to build something special and that is exactly what they've done the goal was to create a modern and contemporary twist on the traditional yet and they have absolutely succeeded in doing that all while creating a beautiful home for themselves [Music] you

Channel: Living Big In A Tiny House

Views: 4,299,103

Rating: 4.9140124 out of 5

Keywords: living big in a tiny house, tiny house, small house, tiny home, small space design, yurt, modern yurt, yurt design, yurt life, yurt living, alternative living, modern home, modern home design, architecture, modern architecture, do it yurt self, diy tiny house, diy yurt, yurt building, tiny house tour, tiny house 2019, small space living, yurt guide

Id: f05NYU3kmFs

Length: 17min 45sec (1065 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 21 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/YOUREABOT]

This is one of the coolest videos so far!

[u/the_luftwaffle]

Awesome yurtposting

[u/Ode_to_bees]

I saw this the other day on Reddit. I think it was on r/DIY. But it wasn't a video, it was a big long post with tons of gifs and pics, detailing the build process.