This section is intended for those who chose to handcraft or build their own yurts. For information on platform plans, go to our FAQs section and visit the yurt company websites. To learn more about yurt assembly, peruse the Yurt Assembly section on the Photo Links page.

Here are some slideshows of hand-built yurts to get your creative juices flowing:

Community Provided Yurt Plans

Building a Mongolian yurt

“Yurt without Steel” A yurt built for Burning Man

Traditional Yurts

The Basics

There are four basic texts and a website that every yurt crafter should check out:

The Complete Yurt Handbook by Paul King, Ecologic Books, 2001.

Yurt builder Paul King provides detailed instructions on how to make both Mongolian and Turkic yurts.

Mongolian Cloud Houses: How to Make a Yurt and Live Comfortably by Dan Kuehn, Shelter Publications, 2006.

A re-issue and update of Dan Kuehn’s 1980 plans for making a 13-foot diameter Mongolian yurt from bamboo or willow with a canvas cover.

The Real Mongol Ger Book by Froit

Construction details for an authentic Mongol ger. A beautiful handmade book with samples of wood, felt and canvas included.

How to Build a Yurt by Steve Place

Factsheet on building a Turkic style yurt by Welsh yurt craftsman Steve Place of Handmade Hardwood Yurts.

Yurt/Ger Notes

In 2005 Rene K. Muller built his own traditional ger and these are his notes, along with a Yurt Calculator for the dimensions of yurt components. An amazing resource!

Online Disucssions About Yurt Plans



Available Online

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Paul King, author of The Complete Yurt Handbook, has a set of plans for a Mongolian style ger available online at no charge. They may be printed from the site in two parts.

SCA Designs:

SCA (Society of Creative Anachronism) members build own their yurts as an historical exercise, with an emphasis on simplicity of design, mobility and traditional authenticity. SCA members generously share information, but these designs may not be appropriate for year-round living.

The Mongolian Yurt, Part I and The Mongolian Yurt, Part II may be downloaded from the SCA Publication Sacred Spaces.

The Construction of a Yurt Online paper written by SCA member Monica Cellio with details on yurt specs and components.

How we made our own Gher Notes from an SCA project.

Fabric Yurts

The Portable Yurt, the original fabric yurt plans, can be ordered for $25 (post paid) from:

Chuck & Laurel Cox

Tuckaway Farm

59 Randall Road

Lee, NH 03824

The Coxes’ fabric yurt plans are designed for year-round habitation and use modern materials. However, the plans have not been updated since their original release and will not resemble recent designs produced by yurt companies.

Tapered wall plans

Info for ordering Bill’s plans can be found on the Dickinson’s Reach page

Frame Panel Yurts

There are no plans available for frame panel yurts per se. However, Smiling Woods Yurts sells plans for the frame panel walls along with a metal roof kit which can be assembled onsite.

Frame panel walls are relatively easy to build if you have carpentry experience. This is a helpful way to economize while avoiding the complexities of the circular roof.

Related Designs

Geo-Lite Systems sells DIY plans for their 12, 14 and 16-panel yurt-style dwellings.