Dickinsons Reach Yurts is Mike Iacona's exploration of Taper-Wall Yurts
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How did I come to know Tapered-Wall Yurts? The simplicity, beauty, and strength of the Tapered-Wall Yurt captivated me from the moment I stepped inside one back in 2002. A few years later I was work-trading at D Acres of NH where I read Bill Coperthwaite's book A Handmade Life, In Search of Simplicity. This book resonated with me deeply. In 2007, while volunteering at Bikes Not Bombs in Boston, a friend encouraged me to write to Bill and ask if we could come visit - which we did. During that visit, Bill invited me to a yurt workshop in Shelby, Michigan. That trip changed my life and my time on that yurt build deepened my passion for yurts - specifically Taper-Wall Yurts. Then, in 2008 I moved to the Earthlands Retreat center in Petersham, Massachusetts where serendipitously enough there was a 17' Taper-Wall Yurt waiting for me to move into! I spent three winters in that lovely yurt (picture at right) which Bill led the raising of in 1987. I worked with Bill studying about yurts, trailbarrows, bad jokes, and spoon carving (among other things) until the sudden car accident which took his life in 2013. At that point, Dickinsons Reach Yurts was created as a way to carry on this yurt building tradition. Presently I am entrusted with disseminating yurt plans and helping people build taper-wall yurts - and it gives me great joy to do so! |
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Mike Lives in the Hills of Southern Vermont with his wife and two spirited daughters. They can often be found frolicking in the garden or carving shrinkpots on Sloyd Sunday. In this photo he is having a particularly good hair day. |
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There is a website (insearchofsimplicity.net) which some friends of Bills created after his death as a way to honor the things he was passionate about - songs, books, trailbarrows, indigenous artifacts, and of course, YURTS! Have a look for yourself... I enjoy connecting with others who are interested in simpler ways of living. If you do too, please reach out. - Mike |
 Photo - Ash Ngu
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