I remember the first time I stepped into a Coperthwaite Yurt. I was taking a Windsor Chair making course with George Sawyer. We were working in his father Dave’s shop as he hadn’t yet fixed up the barn he works out of today. Across the street from his parents house they had worked with Mike Iacona to design and build an all wooden yurt on top of a 20ft platform that previously supported a fabric yurt. When you step into the space you’re greeted with an incredible sense of space with the vaulted ceiling reaching heights over 10ft with seemingly no support. Their version has space for a kitchen, full bath, and small sleeping nook.
The second time I stepped into one of Bill’s yurts was at Maine Coast Craft where I was learning to use scribe rule on a cruck timber frame (which eventually protected their pizza oven). Austin, one of their summer interns was kind enough to let me check it out, their apprentices often stay in the off-grid yurt during their time at the school. Theirs was purpose built with a 19ft base and provides a great amount of space to sleep, eat, and work on side projects throughout the summer.
Both structures stuck with me for a long time afterwards. There’s something incredibly special that’s hard to put into words till you see one in person. The way the tapered boards converge at the skylight. The 360 degree views that showcase the surrounding forest. The sheer amount of pine timber that envelopes you in a comforting hug. The eaves that extend past the structure and encourage you to step up into the structure.
I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to build one myself, I certainly hoped so, but it needed to be for the right reasons. My partner Kelsey runs a flower design and farming business and was able to hire full time help for the first time in 2023. In the spirit of housing apprentices we wanted to be able to provide a space for them to live and save some additional cash. My immediate thoughts went back to the two yurts I had visited before. I knew there was a perfect spot in our woods to build without disturbing any trees.
I purchased the Standard Yurt plans from Dickinson Reach Yurts (dryurts.com). The plans arrived quite quickly in the mail and were printed back to back on a large sheet of A1 paper. I was admittedly a bit surprised to see relatively few diagrams and instead an incredible amount of text describing the process of building the yurt. They start with the guidance to “read this many times before starting”. By the time I finished the yurt I probably read the instructions start to finish 30 times. Each time through you pick up another piece of the puzzle that Bill left behind in his own words.
With the plans in hand, and my first few read throughs complete, I compiled my lumber list, and placed an order to the local building supplier for hardware and insulation. I was able to source most of the material from an Amish lumber mill in Upstate New York and the rest from local businesses. It all got sorted, stickered, and covered before we entered into a long Vermont winter.