The "Model-T" of Houses

Model-T’s originally sold for something like $495, and put America on wheels. A rather clever fellow has come up with a nifty looking emergency house that costs a mere $300 or so.

You can read an interview with the creator here.

I’d love to just knock down this drafty old dump of mine and replace it with 8-10 interconnected hexayurts, vice remodelling this place for thousands more.

Oh wait, as a citizen of the Greatest Democracy on Earth, I can’t. The Whores To The Real Estate Development and Construction Lobbies, aka, the City Planning Commission won’t let me --not even if I promise that I’m only doing this temporarily while building a new conventional home.

Sucks that citizens of third world dictatorships can have these and I can’t.

I like how it is described to

Family Support Unit?

I can’t get your second link to work.

Why are these so much less expensive than regular yurts? Yurts run in the $10,000 and up range even before toilets and showers. Is it just because they’re smaller, or because they won’t last as long, or is the quoted cost per person only effective if someone (the government, the Red Cross, etc.) buys 100,000+ units?

('Cause I’d totally love one for camping!)

You get a dozen therapists free with every order.

In the pictures at the link it looks like its made out of foil-covered styrofoam sheets. It looks useful as a very temporary emergency shelter, but I don’t think you’d want to live in one

I know I’ve seen cheaper little yurts somewhere online. Must go find them again – because yeah, I really really want a collapsible camping yurt. Warm, snug, doesn’t blow over in a great big wind…

I spent a few days in a yurt once. In Maine, in the middle of the winter.

I don’t care to be reminded of the experience.

I want one, too. This is really a neat idea. Think they’d be “reusable” for enough trips to justify the cost?

I’d build a smaller one in the yard. I’d be the only person on the block with a dogyurt.

That’s cause I screwed it up. The correct link is here. It does seem to take a while for the page to load some times.

I dunno if it’ll be available for campers, but they’d be smart to sell them that way as well, since it’d help to drive down the costs of the units.

You’re right. $10,000, now that I review my notes, is what it cost for a 20’ yurt with snow and wind load options and an extra window, *and *the materials for a frame and floor to put it on (it’s a more permanent installation, although technically it can still be moved if need be - just build a new base and floor).

I can do a bare bones 16’ yurt for $6700 or so with the full wind and snow load (since the hexayurt is supposed to withstand those, we should add them in for comparison’s sake) and wall insulation. Still, WAY more than $300, and not with toilet, shower, lights and stove…oh, and without a floor! OTOH, a “real” yurt is made with beautiful hardwood and canvas tenting, not shiny covered styrofoam sheets.