" les 4 Seasons " a bimonthly Eco organic magazine here in France recently had a bit about tiny houses in France . Not surprisingly their may be legal issues
However they included some French links that people may find of interest
www.latinyhouse.com
www.habitatboissurpilotis.fr

David

Hey D, thanks for the links,
im wondering if there is a thread dedicated to Yurts?
Here in my neck of france, (and maybe all over?) Yurts are the thing here. I rarely hear about cob, tiny houses, whatevers different, small and newfangled except for Yurts seems to be So Hot.

I think it may have to do with legality issues. From what I understand, in my department (state, if you will), if you build any structure for living you pay higher property taxes, whereby Yurts are still deemed 'moveable structures' therefore considered cheaper and quicker to constuct. Land here in FR is either considered agricultural/commercial and/or habitable. Obviously, price of land on habitable/constructable land is much higher, as are taxes. So, the loophole is this, if you find a sweet cheap spot on some bunky otherwise unusable Ag Land, technically you dont have the right to construct a living space on it, but as of today, a Yurt is not met in those guidelines. so you can 'squat' the land thru this loophole. (that is, unless you have an education in Agriculture and are certified, then you have the 'right' to live on Ag Land and be close to your animals/operation, which, by the way, we are in the process of becoming certified, woop!)

ANYWAAAYYYY.... Yurts! Anyone live in them? we are exploring this bizarre round lifestyle and I would love some insight, tips, and suggestions from any rural permies who have experience! Thanks!

Here in France I have been in a couple of Yurts . There are yerts and they are stout tents with a thicker roof
The traditional yurts are fine for a while but I would not like to live in one all year round with a family.They have a much thicker felt wall woven structure and a real indoor stove .
A roulot - tiny house -caravan - wooden camper would seem to be a better bet .

David

I know it's an old thread, but I just stumbled upon it and I could not help myself.

It is true that in France yurts are very popular and in the Pyrenees especially so. Land in the mountains is rather cheap but there is something called Loi de la Montagne (the mountain's law) which means that you are not allowed to build anything. If there is an old existing crumbling stone barn on your property, you are allowed to refurbish it but without changing anything on the outside or changing its size. It therefore makes yurt living very appealing and quite affordable. They are doted all over the mountains and some of them are in some spectacular spots. I know of 3 families with young children who live in such accommodation and one of them is my nearest neighbour. The yurts are technically not legal and a lot will depend on the Maire (Mayor) of the village. He/she might turn a blind eye or make life very difficult for you. On the whole, they leave you alone if they see that you are contributing to the community.

We, also have a yurt. Our house is fairly small so we use it for visitors, family, friends and WWOOFers. Recently, we were very glad to have it when we had a fire and could not use the house for a while. With a wood burning stove, it is very cosy and warm even in -10C; also the space and shape are very pleasing. The main thing is to have the floor well insulated because the cold sips in from the ground. Ours is not big enough to live in it permanently, but for a few weeks or months it's just fine.

Bonjour,
Another Frenchie here (Dex is short for Derreumaux, which even the French cannot spell). We live in Brittany, but spent time in the south in our yurt. A maire in the Cevennes actually came with his hunting rifle to tell us we had to leave, so yurt living really does depend on him/her. Here is our yurt in snow (altough not a lot, since it was in Brittany at the time)

Oh, btw, we do not live in our yurt anymore, having purchased a home a year ago.

Hi Tiffany so are you still in Brittany ?

David

Oui, dans le Morbihan. Nous étions dans le Finistère, les Cévennes, et la Drome quand nous avons vécu dans notre yourte. Etes-vous français, David ?

Je suis Anglais .J' habit Anjou 49500 .  Sur le Website "Permies " Anglais est obligitoire  , nous enlavons    le spam , les  imposters etc .
Trying to do that in other languages would be impossible The moderators have enough trouble with spammers ,fraudsters ,cults, promoter of chemicals and   trolls in english we dont have enough time to deal with these things in French spanish chinese etc. Permies is a safe space for gentle souls and that takes moderating .
Morbihan is very nice I have been there a few times for holidays and to play music . Would you like to share pictures of your place and your adventures in permaculture and gardening on this site . I think it encourages others to do likewise  My house is featured in the link below

David

Bonjour David,
I had realized that I cannot write a lengthy text in French, but what I said was so simple that I thought it did not matter. Your place looks very nice! My husband wants to make some Warre hives, also. This past year, he did a 'stage' with a beekeeper and now has some bees, but the beekeeper is housing them until the day they have a place here.

As was rather surprised because we don't live that far from you, relatively speaking. Three hours is a long drive, but it seems like we are always at least 7 hours away. Is your area expensive? Is that why you rent? If that is the case, I need to send you real estate from over here sometime. Our area is not expensive, which is why we are here. Not surprisingly, almost everyone else is here for the same reason. There are a few natives, but not many. There are quite a number English.

My children play Irish music, also. My oldest son plays the bagpipes, uillean pipes, and whistle, while my daughter plays the whistle, harp, and bombarde (that one is Breton, though). My youngest is starting his first year of bagpipes. What instrument(s) do you play? If you would be interested in exchanging sheet music, my children would be very pleased.

I have lurked a bit here for a few years now. Perhaps I will post some photos of our home and land in the Europe board to sort of introduce myself, since I never did that.

Take care.

BTW, did you bring your cast iron from England?