Backyard Grass-Hut Retreat

Build a grass hut in your backyard for summer fun and shade.

By Shelley Botts
June/July 2011

Grass Hut Retreat
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A lazy-hazy-crazy-days-of-summer retreat. 
PHOTO: SHELLEY BOTTS
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The first question almost everyone asks about our grass hut is, “What’s it for?”

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Younger kids see it as a cottage, a jail or a castle. Young adults use it for a hangout spot. Families can camp out overnight, and people of any age can find refuge from the sun, the rain or the fast pace of life. We’ve used it for all these things and more.

All materials we used to build the hut (except door hardware) came from our city’s yard-waste drop-off site, where unwanted plant materials are collected to be ground into free mulch. People are allowed to drop off or pick up materials as needed. We collected sturdy branches, bamboo, grapevines and ornamental grasses, plus a few pieces of dimension lumber to build our hut.

Shelley Botts
Columbia, Missouri

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Archived Comments

  • jackie creswel 7/21/2011 6:17:57 PM

    here in the Phillipines these are called kuboe,or nipa huts. Many people live in them.

  • Denise Griffor 7/17/2011 9:58:27 PM

    I think this grass hut idea is awesome and I would love to try to build one myself! I thought this was a DIY article but couldn't find any directions or instructions on how to actually build one. Can you help? Thanks in advance for your consideration of my requests.

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