Culture > Design

The Man Who Kicked Off America’s Yurt Craze

Bill Coperthwaite credited with popularizing Mongolian dwellings stateside

By Matthew Reitman
May 14, 2016 7:00 am EDT
(Kennan Harvey/Getty Images)

Yurts are cylindrical homes commonly used among nomadic groups in Mongolia. Since the early 1990s, though, this style of dwelling has also been a trendy alternative in America. Popular for their easy construction, yurts are often found at national parks or festivals like Burning Man or Coachella. Bill Coperthwaite, a Harvard graduate, is attributed with popularizing the American yurt. Atlas Obscura‘s Peter Andrey Smith details Coperthwaite’s contribution to the yurt movement in this article.

Matthew Reitman

Matthew Reitman

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