Living in the round

What are some of the questions people ask when they hear someone is living in a yurt? "What's a yurt?" is usually always first. "A circular, portable dwelling used by Mongol and Turkic peoples of central Asia," says the dictionary.

"Do you need round furniture?" is another, and "Does it feel different inside?"

To find the answers, The Union visited a family that just moved into its yurt home, the Ericsons of Nevada City.

First impression: This is not a portable, temporary dwelling of canvas; rather, it's a substantial wood house. Second impression: It's huge - three connected pods totaling almost 3,000 square feet. All of the furniture looked pretty normal, but, no question, it does feel different inside.

Owner Myles Ericson, who works for the United Parcel Service, said, "The circle shape is very unique. It feels like you're held in it. It's a comforting, nurturing space to be in, like a cradle."

It was the desire to create "sacred space" that caused Ericson and his wife, Colleen, both 39, to start researching a different kind of home to build on their 21 acres off of Cement Hill Road.

Not that they didn't consider a traditional one first. Just too expensive, said Ericson. "So we chucked the idea and started from scratch."

Due to a friend's suggestion, they began seriously considering a prefab yurt.

The couple flew to Oregon for a weekend to visit a company in Eugene that specializes in round structures, started immediately designing the house of their dreams, and a couple of months later, in June 2003, six trucks arrived with their house in pieces.

Because this is a permanent structure, a foundation was laid. The permit process went smoothly, said Ericson, once the building department saw that the dwelling meets all engineering specifications, complying with wind and snow ratings. "It was well received by building inspectors and the bank that gave us funding."

Two men from the company that manufactured the yurt took several weeks to do the floors, walls, 4-by-8-foot beamed ceilings, and roofs of the three pods. When they left, a local contractor took over and finished the job.

The contractor, Scoot Usedom, "ventured into this yurt thing with us," said Ericson, "never having done one before. But he liked the concept. He was awesome. It wasn't easy doing sheet rocking, for example, considering there's an angle every 4 feet."

The 34-foot-diameter center pod feels spacious, airy, and full of light because of lots of windows that face the mountains and a huge center skylight. In fact, said Ericson, "during the day we don't have to turn any lights on." The family chose a three-pod design - sleeping pod, living/dining/kitchen pod, and playroom/utility-room-plus pod - for its privacy factor, an important element when you have two rambunctious kids.

The well-insulated house has a lot of energy-saving aspects to it, including skylights that open to vent air and efficient radiant heat in the floor. Soon solar will be added to supply electricity.

Any negatives about a house in the round?

"No," said Ericson, "I'm so happy with it."

He admits to some special design considerations, though, including careful preplanning of where you want lighting and plumbing (no attic space). Another consideration is acoustics. Referring to amplified sound, he said, "It can sound pretty lively if lots is going on."

Energetically speaking, he said the whole house "feels smooth, like a flowing river." The family has already hosted the Tibetan monks in the round meditation room above the garage and, in fact, are calling their home Casa de la Soul.

And, finally, Ericson said they saved money building this prefab yurt - "about 30 percent in savings per square foot over an equivalent stick house, and I don't feel we compromised on quality in any way. For the space we got, we got a real deal. Plus, I'm happier with it."