A Royal City resident hopes the city will help fulfill her lifelong dream of living in a yurt.
Treva Zilm has approached the city about building a yurt on her property in the Glenbrooke North neighbourhood. Once used by herdsmen in Mongolia, the modern-day versions of these circular, tent-like structures can now be outfitted with all the comforts of home, including fireplaces, kitchens and multiple rooms.
“I think we will do a prefab one so if the family doesn’t want it after I die, they can just take it down easily,” she told the Record. “It will be to code. It will be the best-looking yurt in Canada.”
While the 1945 home on Osborne Street was a “perfect match” when Zilm moved in 15 years ago, the 1,500-square-foot house is too small for her family’s needs now that she’s raising her twin 10-year-old grandchildren, and her daughter and her partner live in the basement suite.
“I need to build a bigger house for my grandchildren,” she said. “They sleep in my office. I said, ‘Don’t worry about it, Harry Potter slept in a closet, you can too for a little longer.’”
Zilm has hired a designer, who is drawing up plans for a new house on her Glenbrooke North property. The house would be bigger than the existing home and meet zoning requirements.
“We have to deal with the conventional house first and the yurt will be in the back,” she said. “It will be a lanehouse, sort of. Space will decide how big it will be. I intend to live my days out in it.”
Zilm plans to make her current house available at no charge for someone who wants to move it to a different location. She fell in love with yurts when she saw them in the Monument Valley in Utah.
“I like the design and the openness of it,” she said. “It would be a tribute to my grandfather. He was First Nations. He was Chippewa.”
Zilm, who retired from teaching in 2005, appeared as a delegation at the Jan. 9 city council meeting to discuss the possibility of getting a building permit to make her dream come true.
“That’s probably a first to council that we have had a request for a yurt,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote said. “Given what we are talking about with sensitive infill housing, it’s an interesting request.”
Council directed the planning department to connect with Zilm about her proposal. She’s confident she’ll get the city’s approval to build the house and yurt – and will even invite council to the yurt housewarming.
“It is my dream,” she said.
