I have been looking to add a small yurt at my camp to use as a shower room.  My camp already has a 30′ yurt by Pacific Yurts, but this time I wanted to try something a bit more local.  Surely Yurts is a small yurt business owned by Steve Reed in Taberg, NY.  I have often communicated with Steve before as he is a member over at our other site, yurtforum.com.  I have been somewhat drawn to his yurts because they have a unique Adirondack feel to them.  The Adirondacks is where my camp is, and I love the entire region.  I guess it is only natural that I have an eye for Surely Yurts.  I am not sure if Steve agrees with me on whether or not his yurts are Adirondack themed, but for myself, I couldn’t help but notice it!  I decided to pay his shop a visit to talk about maybe buying one of his yurt kits and while I was there, I figured it was a good time to get some background on him and his operation.  I got the impression that Steve wished he had straightened up the shop since I was going to take photos, but I am glad he didn’t get that chance.  I love seeing a well worked shop, not one that looks like you could eat off the floors!

We met up in the village and I followed him back to his shop.  The first thing you see is the house.

He doesn’t stay in it much, he prefers his 10′ yurt instead:

I can understand that, as his yurt is a cozy, comfortable structure that is perfect for his setup.  More on that later though, let’s see the shop!

Steve builds each yurt to order and erects them on platforms he already has built:

This way he can fit the fabric custom to each one he builds.  Every yurt he makes is hand crafted by Steve and helpers.  I happened to visit right after we received a bunch of snow, but Steve was kind enough to show me the 10′ platform.

The shop is a work in progress as much of it is outdoors.  It can make for some cold working this time of year, but Steve is working on enclosing it to make winter working a bit more comfortable.

Say cheese Steve!

For those of us who have spent a lot of time in upstate New York, shops like this are pretty common.  It reinforced the entire authenticity of these Adirondack style yurts.

Steve let me visit his private yurt to get an idea of what I would be getting for a shower room.  It was a warm place to be and very comfortable.  With the Callahan style mortared stone floor, it just felt like home.

And here is his dog Cooper, who returned after being on an adventure.

Here is the Surely Yurts glass “dome” with the stove pipe going almost down the center of the yurt.  The glass is magnetically attached to the studs and can be opened and even removed to clean.  The entire room was wood stove warm. 🙂

We had a good visit.  We talked a lot about aspects yurt building and the industry, alternative heating and energy, and hunting.  I really came away impressed with Surely Yurts and am looking forward to the shower yurt in the Spring!  The only bad part of the day was that we heard the news of the untimely passing of long time yurt mentor Bill Coperthwaite.

If you are looking for a smaller Adirondack style yurt, say 10 to 20 feet in diameter, you should give Steve a call.  He also builds portable yurts.  Tell him Jeff from yurtforum.com sent you! 🙂