Inexpensive Housing/Living Alternative

The day they outlaw out houses,or private wells in my county, I will move my family to the pacific or south america.

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

There was an episode on HGTV a few years ago about a couple that lives full time in there Teepee.

they built it on a wooden platform and then built a bit of a shed around the opening of the teepee door. They did instal a chimney pipe for their wood stove, but other than wood and oil lamps they have no power. They even built a raised loft inside and have their bed up on that patlform inside. They have an outhouse and shower at the local gym every few days.

I was able to find it online on HGTV, but don't know when theymight re-air it. I know I've seen it a few times in the last three years.




Colorado Teepee House
Extreme Homes : Episode EXT-413 -- More Projects »
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/remodeling/...374182,00.html

In the San Juan Mountains in Southwestern Colorado, Martha and Jeff found a 35-acre site when they were on a camping trip. The property has a stream, a meadow, a cliff and aspen and evergreen trees, as well as a gorgeous view. Because the land is open to cattle grazing, last year the Kirklands only paid $8.80 in taxes!

Initially, the couple considered building a log cabin or buying a trailer; eventually they bought a teepee kit and put it together with their own modifications. Martha decorated the canvas (not animal skin) walls with her own version of designs suggested in the kit. She used regular house paint on the 13-ounce flame-retardant canvas. They also put the teepee on a deck, in part to stabilize it, but also to keep them dry. And even though they are off the ground, they still have a problem with mice. They built the deck fence out of fallen aspen and fir trees, but it was not effective in keeping out bears, so they added a gentle but effective solar powered electric fence. They also used fallen trees to build an entry "mud room," a warm space where the Kirklands take off their boots and jackets and sometimes change clothes. The structure features a surprisingly decorative stained glass window.

The interior of the teepee is surprisingly cozy. Much of the decor is turn-of-the-century with some antiques from Martha's family. A green step back shelf was her grandmother's, and a five-gallon water cooler and pie safe with punched tin are also family relics. An old candy tin functions as the garbage can, and the kitchen queen serves as the kitchen. The furniture is placed away from the canvas so it can move freely under snow cover, moisture or in wind. The teepee reaches 28 feet in diameter. The couple built a sleeping loft, which is the warmest spot in the home. The Kirklands use a small generator when they need to vacuum or use power tools. Candles and Coleman and kerosene lanterns provide light. For refrigeration they use ice in the summer; in the winter snow or milk jugs filled with frozen water cool their food. Martha uses a wood stove to cook, but she doesn't have an oven. A second old soapstone woodstove weighs nearly a quarter of a ton and keeps the place warm in the winter. The teepee's canvas liner also keeps heat in. The Kirklands added insulation at the bottom to keep the draft out. The ozaw at the top of the teepee also maintains a comfortable temperature, and protects them from rain. The teepee has no plumbing, so the couple showers at a nearby health club and uses a privy in the woods. Drinking and kitchen water they obtain from a tank they fill in town. Martha says it cost them $15,000 to build their teepee home.

In Minnesota, where this place is, zoning laws and enforcement vary greatly from county to county and even among townships. I'm guessing by Bemidji, if they aren't near a lake, the laws are probably fairly lenient.

My township does not even require building permits. There's a place down the road, with small children living there, consisting of two fairly small travel trailers and an outhouse. Another place nearby consists of a hunting cabin and two small Winnebagos. I think there's even a tipi somewhere. I have no septic or indoor plumbing or central heating while we build our bigger house. No problems with the authorities even though I have kids in school.

I admire them for living that way; so many people want it all, right away, and wouldn't even think of staying one night like that!

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Deb ><((({"> ><((({">
http://whitepines.blogspot.com

How do you keep things from getting stolen when you're gone?

My wife birthed our oldest son in the teepee we were living in in Northern California. In that area (Hunboldt) there seems to still be no problems with living however you want. Here in the interior of Alaska it's the same. Outside of city limits the are no codes or restrictions on outhouses or anything really.

While living in a TP sounds fun, a conventional cabin frame would probably be nicer, drier, and last longer. Just for fun i figured a little 12x24 foot cabin. Exterior shell only, 1 door, 3 windows, concrete slab floor. $2,700 materials. Simple design 1:1 roof slope. Defintily have to repaint it every couple years. While not finished it would compare to a TP.

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Happiness is directly proportional to the ratio that trees out number humans.

My Dad has a tipi and we stayed in it one early spring on Roan Mtn. TN. It got well below freezing that night and, as we were just doing an overnight "camp" trip we had no liner and no platform. We were on the ground with just the canvas shell. Also we had an open fire on the ground that vented up through the flaps. I'd think a liner, platform, and wood stove would make a world of difference. Plus in a permanent tipi you pile straw around the outside base to hold down the canvas, prevent drafts, and insulate. We didn't have that. It was chilly inside but we were comfortable sleeping in heavy army sleeping bags or lots of blankets.

In the summer you can roll up the sides of the tipi a little bit (roll them up from the ground) and this causes a natural draft in around the bottom and up through the flaps, for "air conditioning". My Dad loves his tipi and can set it up by himself quite efficiently now. He's done it an awful lot

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Our homestead-in-the-making: Palazzo Rospo
Eating the dream

There are other building materials that can be used to make an inexpensive home. However, something like a tipi has the advantage of being fast to put up. I would really like to build a cob house, using poles and beams from trees from my own land for the roof structure, and with a sod roof -- but even a tiny (300 s.f.) cob house would take all of a year to build. In the meantime, we could be living in a tipi -- which could be sold when we were done with it. (Used tipis sell pretty well.)

Kathleen

Here's my Dad's tipi (on the right). This was taken back in 2000.

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Our homestead-in-the-making: Palazzo Rospo
Eating the dream

Hey, you wouldn't happen to live in Ohio, would you? LOL Sounds like that here in the Buckeye state............

Kelli

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Check out my blog for recipes, crafts and more!
http://2dreamlucid.blogspot.com/

I have friends in Jersey...Ohio isn't as bad...yet LOL

That teepee is so cool! What a great idea!....hmmmm...thinking...thinking...

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