Traditionally, a yurt was a portable, felt-covered, wood lattice-framed dwelling structure used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. The felt was made from the nomad's sheep, and the timber (not available on the steppes), was obtained through trading in the valleys below.

The frame, of both modern and traditional cloth yurts, consists of one or more lattice wall-sections, a door-frame, roof poles and a crown. Some styles of yurt have one or more columns to support the crown. The self-supporting wood frame is covered with pieces of felt and sometimes with additional layers of canvas. The frame is held together with one or more ropes or ribbons, and kept under compression by the weight of the covers, sometimes supplemented by a heavy weight hung from the center of the roof.

In America, builders have taken the visual idea of the yurt--a round, semi-permanent tent--and have adapted it to kit homes of great beauty. From small simple studios to elaborate multi-level tandem homes, designs have been developed with numerous options to meet individual needs and budgets.

These round homes are unique, economical and quick to build, as well as energy efficient. But the overwhelming reason why people buy an yurt home is the "feel" of the expansive rounded space.

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