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World's Leading Yurt Manufacturer
Celebrates 30 Years
When Alan Bair put a modern twist on an
ancient, but highly functional shelter,
he was simply looking for some temporary
housing for himself.
He never
intended to invent an entire industry.
However, as Bair celebrates the 30th anniversary
of his groundbreaking company, Pacific
Yurts, that is just one of the many accomplishments
he can look back on. Since building
that first yurt, Bair and his team has
been responsible for most of the industry's
important technological, functional and
aesthetic advances over the last 30 years.
For example, Pacific Yurts was the first
company to design and offer yurts featuring
NASA-developed reflective insulation. They
were the first to offer options engineered
to meet UBC and IBC structural standards,
and also created and sold the first yurts
with a roofing fabric membrane backed by
a 15-year warranty.
Today, yurt building is a growing, robust
industry, and Pacific Yurts is the world's
leading manufacturer. That is a development
Bair never could have foreseen back in
the 1970s. After all, he had set
out to build just the one for himself.
Bair ran across a National Geographic
article on the ancient shelter that has
been used by nomadic sheepherders for at
least 800 years (some estimate it's more
like 2,000). Central Asian yurts
are portable dwellings, round in shape
when assembled from a lattice wall frame
and tied together with leather laces. They
use radial poles as rafters, include a
woven tension band, central compression
ring and are covered with layers of felt
and animal skins.
Bair was inspired by their intrinsic beauty
and the practical engineering of the structure
which has one of the most efficient surface-to-volume
ratios ever created. With help from some
friends, he built that yurt for himself
and lived in it while working on reforestation
projects.
When an Oregon newspaper wrote about Bair's
yurt, calls and letters came in from people
requesting help to build their own. Suddenly,
he had discovered a market for the simple,
affordable structures.
In 1978 Bair founded Pacific Yurts (originally
with two partners) in an aging dairy barn
in Creswell, Oregon. It was the first
company in the world dedicated to manufacturing
modern versions of the ancient structure.
Oregonians were the company's first
customers, and only a few yurts were shipped
in the first year while staff worked to
develop the basic design, production process
and capabilities. Early customers
were attracted by the yurt's comfort,
affordability and ease of installation. With
new options, innovations and increasing
public awareness, the yurt market grew
to include many applications, including
personal retreats, vacation homes and alternative
housing, and for government and commercial
use as guest lodging at ski resorts, wilderness
areas, parks and military recreation areas.
To many customers, the appeal of Bair's
modern yurt was much more than structural
or convenience-related. "Many
of our customers saw the yurt almost as
a work of art, and it represented to them
a simpler way of life," Bair says. "It's
still that way."
The unique appeal of the yurt was also
a draw for the Oregon State Parks system,
which in 1994 bought two yurts to attract
campers year round. It was an immediate
success, and, in the years since, over
190 yurts have popped up like mushrooms
across Oregon in 19 state parks. The
idea soon caught on nationally with state
parks across the country.
TIME magazine also caught on. In
a 2002 article that featured Bair and his
company, TIME called yurts, "the
trendy choice for do-it-yourself shelter."
Today the company, now located in Cottage
Grove, Ore., truly has a global reach. Pacific
Yurts can be found throughout the United
States and on nearly every continent. They
have become a solution for those who want
to provide access and accommodations in
natural scenic areas while assuring guests
and conservationists of minimal impact
on the environment.
Pacific Yurts now manufactures hundreds
of custom yurts each year. Its innovations
and reputation for sustainable business
practices have attracted national and international
recognition and numerous awards.
A recent article in
Woodall's Campground Management noted that
"Pacific Yurts has maintained its status
as the world's leading yurt manufacturing
company by continuously implementing technical
and structural advancements, adding innovative
options and remaining committed to unrivaled
customer service."
The production, marketing and service
philosophies of Pacific Yurts reflect Bair's
passion for quality, the outdoors and his
personal belief that cross-cultural exchanges
and dialogues are essential for global
understanding, respect and harmony.
"From the beginning, our guiding philosophy
has been to create the best yurt in the
world, and to treat our customers the way
we like to be treated as customers – professionally,
respectfully, fairly and honestly," Bair
says.
After 30 years of success, that philosophy
is clearly working.
www.yurts.com
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