Our Story, Nestled in the Gaspereau Valley

Welcome to Little Foot Yurts!

We’re Alex and Selene Cole and we work and live in Mi’kma’ki, the traditional territory of the Mi’kmaq people.

As a small family business we specialize in handcrafted yurts for special events. Drawing inspiration from 3000-year-old traditions of the nomadic Kyrgyz people, we grow, harvest, and build our yurts using traditional techniques. Each yurt is a one-of-a-kind work of art, requiring special care in setup, takedown, and maintenance. Selene tailors the coverings, while Alex crafts the yurt frames and oversees our installation team.

Our fleet of unique shelters is small but has a mighty presence on the atmosphere of any wedding, festival or community event. Since 2005, we've been shaking up the tent game with our eco-friendly yurts!

The yurt is a collapsible circular framework of wooden poles used as far back as 3000 years by a horse riding nomadic nation of people through out Central Asia. Today it can still be found in use across the globe, from a cozy cabin, studio and gathering space. Its surprising strength, durability and the natural and sustainable way they are created is a testament to its ingenuity.

Burning holes into a steam bent ash wheel.

Alex Cole
Woodworking & Installation

Sewing a yurt wheel cover.

Selene Cole
Textiles & Client Bookings

How we got started

We met whilst traveling in Australia, and later moved to Wales to work on The Roundhouse Project, a traditional Celtic round house built with phragmites reed on the roof and earthen plaster on the walls.

This project was located in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales where we lived at Coed Hills Rural Artspace; and at the time was a not-for-profit co-operative social enterprise that promoted sustainable living and creative arts. Since then they have evolved into Coed Weddings, an incredible venue for weddings and art events.

It was at Coed Hills where we learned how to build yurts, along with tipis, log cabins and straw baled buildings in addition to the Iron Age Roundhouse.

Coed Hills allowed us to discover our passion about sustainable living, both ecologically and socially; the “unintentional community” that was formed at Coed Hills essentially became the catalyst for Little Foot Yurts. The amazing people and energy of Coed Hills changed our lives and inspired us to start a sustainable business. In 2003 we moved to Nova Scotia and in 2005 we started Little Foot Yurts.

Design & Production

We are builders of Nova Scotia coppice wood yurts, inspired by the traditional Kyrgyz and Mongolian style yurts.

Our yurts feature the ancient design with one third more roof poles than modern alternatives.

We are the only yurt producer using breathable natural membranes; cotton canvas and felt insulation.

The natural materials used at Little Foot Yurts; wood, wool & coconut husk fibre.

Our yurts do not use complicated fixtures and fittings.

Demonstrating the strength of a steam bent ash yurt wheel.

Each piece is individually steam bent which is the only way to create a circle wall trellis with this kind of strength.

Green wood working tools are used to fashion our yurts.

The froe is a simple and ancient tool used to bring round wood into usable dimensions.

Ash planks ready to come out of the steam box.

The complete fibres of a steam bent wheel provide an almost unbreakable circle .

This ancient technique of burning the mortices creates a perfect hole that can fit every pole.

The wood is hardened and cured by the heat.

Heating up one of our branding symbols for labelling wooden components.

Hand branded symbols create a simple guide to assembling our yurts.

The strongest and most sacred part of the yurt: the wheel.

The French seam is used in all of our joins.

Sewing a yurt roof cover involves many meters of french seams!

Setting brass spur grommets into a roof cover.

Our windows have a super-clear plastic material with an exterior canvas flap.

Our business label confirming our covers meet Canadian fire standards.

Textiles production requires yurts to be set up within yurts.

Coppicing, a traditional woodland management method, involves cutting trees to ground level, encouraging new shoots for future harvests.

Red maple is Little Foot Yurts preferred roof pole.

Using a billhook, the ancient tool of the coppice worker.

Red maple tree cleaned and prepared for regrowth with love.

Removed by hand and foot. The practice of coppicing is one of the lowest impact forestry techniques.

Unloading coppice poles back at LFY.

From simple stick to finished yurt pole!

From simple stick to elegant wedding yurt!

Terri-Lynn Warren Photography

Our small sheep flock provides fiber for felt panels, protein, life and death lessons, grassland management, and companionship.

Lambing is always a special time at Little Foot Yurts!

We have a natural spring in our pasture which gives our sheep water in most months.

Onlookers await their turn to be sheared.

Before & after!

Reasy to send to our local mill to get processed into felt panels.

The construction of felt panels in the textiles room.

Feeling the warmth and softness of the wool whilst I sew is a real treat!

The completed felt panels are ready to help keep a yurt warm!

Felt panels are the traditional covering of yurts in Central Asia.

Hand splitting, steam bending and using round wood produces a strong and unique frame.
Ancient building techniques such as hand splitting with a free, steam bending green wood and using tools such as a billhook produce a strong and unique yurt frame.
Coppicing, a traditional woodland management method, involves cutting trees to ground level, encouraging new shoots for future harvests and promoting sustainable wood production.
This age-old practice in Europe yields various wood products like firewood, fencing, and furniture.
Beyond the economic benefits, coppice development helps restore woodland health, especially after severe logging. This low-impact harvesting method enhances soil stability and ground-level habitats, contributing to increased biodiversity.
We are proud to use breathable natural membranes; cotton canvas and felt insulation. The benefits include significantly less condensation, no off gassing, more aesthetically pleasing, lighter, and easier to repair. Multiple layers of semi-permeable membranes ensures 100% weather protection.
Felt panels are the traditional yurt covering of Central Asia. Extremely durable and hard wearing they provide a natural, breathable insulation. The felt panels are enclosed by the cotton canvas to protect it from the weather.
Our yurts use the traditional central Asian design, which gives you one third more roof poles than modern style yurt companies.
Our yurts do not use complicated fixtures or fittings. The roof pole end fits into a burnt mortice hole and uses high quality locally made dacron rope for the loop on the opposite end.

Our Trip to Kyrgyzstan

In June of 2010, we travelled to Kyrgyzstan to immerse ourselves in yurt living, learning from felt artisans in textile design and yurt frame craftsmanship to deepen our cultural understanding. We hope you enjoy reading about our travels!

Kyrgyzstan Blog