A Yurt in Berkeley

Its’s not very often that one sees a yurt in Berkeley, but a few do exist. One is at 1636 Bonita, which recently came up for sale, and quickly sold. I’m proud to report that it was my buyer who was the successful bidder. But I’d be writing about this property in any event because there is something about a yurt that is deeply stirring.

For those who don’t know, a yurt is a type of tent that “for several  thousand years was traditionally used by nomadic tribes in Central Asia and the Near East, from Iran to Mongolia.” This reference comes from a book I’ve had since my ecological design studies in the late 1970s. Simply titled Shelter, it is an anthology of indigenous housing types throughout the world.

A yurt has round walls made of latticed wood strips tied together at the top with a rope or some other type of band, which keep the walls in a state of tension. On top of the walls, along the entire circumference, poles, or in the modern example 2x4 joists, fall in to a center ring, which acts in compression. The ring is open to let light in and cooking smoke out. The whole structure is self-supporting, meaning that the two forces, tension and compression, work in perfect balance to support the walls and roof without additional supports.

Again, according to Shelter, “the yurt is always pitched facing south, so the pool of sunlight shining through the smoke holes in the roof acts a clock.” How clever!  In the case of 1636 Bonita however, the entrance faces east to better provide access from the house and yard.  And while yurts were originally designed to be mobile, “capable of being carried by one or two camels and erected by several men in a half hour,” the structure on Bonita is built on a fixed, raised platform and covered with bamboo flooring. Instead of an open smoke ring, the center hole is covered with an operable domed-shaped skylight.

The other morning I was at the property with the buyers and their two and half year old son. To give the parents some undistracted time in the house, I took the boy out to the yurt. It is not furnished, and its 30 foot diameter means there is lots of space to run around.  After a few minutes of him running in circles, he and I laid on our backs, head to head, looking up at the trees through the central skylight. Both of us immediately dropped into a deeply peaceful state, where we remained for a good 15 minutes. A few squirrels were scurrying among the branches, and we could hear birds. It was like the rest of the world had disappeared, and we were just “tuned” into some primordial wavelength.

Sounds hokey, I know. But it is truly palpable. My clients plan on using the space for their Buddist meditation practice. I cannot think of a better match-up between house and owner.

Brett Weinstein is Broker and Co-founder of Realty Advocates, a full-service lower commission brokerage serving Berkeley since 1986. Read more posts by .