Not ready to build yet? Or are you looking for a place to live while your energy-efficient home is being constructed? Or maybe you simply want to really connect with living on the Earth. Why not live in a yurt?
Nomadic peoples of Central Asia live in yurts, round houses made of a wood latticework frame and a canvas tarpaulin cover. Heavy felt is used for insulation, and heat is provided by a centrally-located stove, while the entire structure ventilates through a space in the center of the roof. These round structures are constructed in various sizes, and form the basic building design of the nomads of the mountainous plains in Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. They are easily adaptable to extremes of weather almost anywhere in the world.
I'm going to leave it to my readers to get more information from Wikipedia (lazy readers click here). Also, Y&Co. (groovyyurts.com) is a neat company that imports traditional yurts, as well as Mongolian fixtures and furniture, at what seem to be reasonable prices. They also buy their goods from village craftspeople, in order to preserve a rural economy in the region.
Photo is from Wikimedia Commons, and shows a Kazakh yurt, which are not as decorative as Mongolian yurts. More photos are available at both of the links provided.
