Yesterday we took a trip up to New Hampshire to visit Ken Gagnon at
Two Girls Farm in Acworth, a tiny little rural town in the south west of the state. What a positive experience! It was a little hard to find, nestled back in the forest as it was, down some pretty rough dirt one-land dirt roads, but it was well worth the effort and then some.
When we arrived, two great big dogs came running out to greet us and try to impress us with their play fighting to show us how cool they were. The main house and farm buildings are built in a half square around a courtyard of sorts where there are (mostly birch) saplings drying and yurt frames in various stages of being built.
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| The courtyard |
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| A few saplings next to the barn, waiting to be turned into yurts |
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Ken then greeted us at his door, and we instantly started chatting away like we were old friends. He made us feel very comfortable and was easy-going and really made the whole experience for us. He led us into the part of his workshop where he was building various doors and ceiling hoops and then stepped up through a tiny Alice-in-Wonderland door to a workroom where one of his assistants was busy stitching together insulation for a wall panel, and we got to see all the fibers they use to sheath their yurts. He told me he currently had 30 on order, so they're no doubt keeping busy!
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| A completed ceiling ring (with real glass!) in the workshop | |
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| Some dry timbers and a ceiling ring |
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We then proceeded to the coup de grace, the yurt itself. This is a 20' yurt (314 square feet), similar to the one Ken lived in for 9 years (and using some of the recycled pieces from that structure). The really special thing about Ken's yurts, and the thing that really got me when I discovered them a few days ago, is the fact he uses natural untreated hardwoods throughout the structure. The decking is all untreated green hemlock timbers, and the lattice work and roof beams are all either full saplings cut to length (for the room beams) or split saplings (for the lattice). This is a really unique feature for yurts being made in any volume today, since most are manufactured beams by large companies who use pressure-treated woods. The look and feel the use of this green wood imparted cannot be described. The interior has such a handmade feel, so comforting and welcoming, that it's almost frightening to think of this as a home; most homes don't make use of natural green materials in their raw state!
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| Yurt exterior. I love the sunlight on the floor through the skylight! |
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| The center ring with green sapling rafters and central chimney, my two favorite features |
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| Ken and I talking shop |
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| The sun around which the yurt revolves |
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| The tiny entryway |
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| Hard-working old Tempwood |
My second-favorite feature was the use of a central woodstove and chimney up through the skylight, in a traditional Mongolian fashion. Ken feels this makes a yurt feel more like a home and especially helps heat a round space evenly. I agree, and with most (every one I've encountered) modern yurt companies designing their yurts for use with a stove at the perimeter, this is refreshing. A perimeter stove makes the space harder to heat, and heats very unevenly and not as efficiently. There's also a beauty and symmetry to this central stove; it becomes like an axis around which a home functions, a source of heat, of light, of life and food, a gathering place, and after all that's what a good kitchen is. Here in the yurt, the kitchen becomes part of the rest of the home, and all is integrated into the round seamlessly.
Ken designs all his yurts with either 5' or 6' high walls, and offers 14', 17', 20' or 25' diameter yurts (that's 154, 227, 314 or 500 square feet), staring at $3400 up to $7600 + insulation and extras. The yurt pictured has 5' walls, which end up making the door a little stumpy for my height, but doable, but also diminish the size of the space you need to heat, a real plus. I should add Ken also offers rounded doors. I'll be taking one of those, thank you.
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| (photo © Ken Gagnon) |
Ken also experiments with other forms of building. Although no formal training as an architect, Ken's designs are brilliant and his symmetries perfect. He's currently experimenting with Khazak-style
gers, teepees and has done some brilliant cordwood huts. In fact, there's one on his property that he uses as a sauna and guest room. He is also an accomplished timber framer, and having built all the barns and buildings on his properties one can see this in action.
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| Cordwood masonry sauna (photo © Ken Gagnon) |
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| Swept rafter tail detail on cordwood sauna (photo © Ken Gagnon) |
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| Timber framed interior of workshop barn |
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| Exterior of barn |
All in all, this was a fantastic experience for both of us, and Ken and his family are living the life we dream of. M and I were both buzzing with excitement when we left (I still am while writing this the next day), and it was sad to have to leave. Ken's work and art and way of life are truly inspirational for us, and I'm sure others feel the same who've visited the farm. And now we're
really looking forward to our new home, built by new friends who truly care about their craft and about creating a sustainable life for themselves and homesteaders throughout New England. So if you're thinking about building a yurt and you're within a 100-mile radius of south central NH, please buy local from Two Girls Farm!
Ken also wrote a
great article on living in a yurt last year; it's even got a convenient jpeg summary sheet you can print out or post on your blog!
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