Physical Temples

So if it's a "barn" per say, where do they draw the line? If people start living there how does that change things? Do we only need to "say" it's a barn? What are the requirements?

So has anyone experienced working with non traditional building materials like rammed earth, straw, or other earthen homes? Who ultimately do we need permission from to build and where can we find the 'standards' it must be built to?

Proteus wrote: I wonder what a religion like Christianity would have been like if people didn't feel adamant on needing to build a church for it...

Good question...I wonder how any of the mainstream religions would of turned out...guess we could ask Jerusalem and Palestine....

Jabi Musah wrote: So if it's a "barn" per say, where do they draw the line? If people start living there how does that change things? Do we only need to "say" it's a barn? What are the requirements?

So has anyone experienced working with non traditional building materials like rammed earth, straw, or other earthen homes? Who ultimately do we need permission from to build and where can we find the 'standards' it must be built to?

Local governments and local building codes would have the answers....

I would presume that if we were taught Christianity as it was meant to be (we are all a Temple of God), a physical temple, church, synagog, would not be necessary. We must be willing to accept that some people need a place to gather in fellowship to learn more of their religion. This is not a bad thing. Learning to pray, to meditate, or to regain ones center, based on their religion, is a recognition that as a human, we could always use help at times.

I myself would like to have a retreat to steal away to for rejuvenation. As of now, I head to the forest, the desert, or the mountains.

Humans are social animals by nature....we seek out those with whom we share interests with....temples provide social centers in which to commune with other like minded individuals....

My mom is southern baptist...and she always told us that our bodies were "the lords temple"....as such we were never forced to go to church...

Likewise when I seek to get away I go to the woods, or the lake, etcetera...I've also made my room into a pretty nice hide away for solitude

Wow that's a lot of posts with a lot of great ideas! I'll try to give input on as many as I can:

1. The Existing House: This is probably the best way to go. For $60k you get some structures, a well, power, phone, land, etc. This has actually been proven to work well for several intentional communities as a model. More info would be helpful. Can it be expanded? What are the regulation limits?

2. Shipping containers: While these seem cheap, they're not. By the time you do all the steel cutting and welding and deal with the insulation, it probably costs more than standard building materials. I mean they're great if you need to build underground survival units but building a structure above-ground out of steel and then making it a comfortable place for humans can be costly.

3. Cheap vs CHEAP: I did lots of research into low-cost construction. The least expensive way to go is to buy a compressed earth brick-maker. You put in dirt and out comes bricks. All you need is labor. With one of these you could have an infinite number of Jedi come live at the temple and build their own homes with their own labor. You could put up a brick wall surrounding the property... pave a brick road... make a shop... make a dojo...make a temple...etc.

There's a project called the Global Village Construction Set which has a brickmaker and other useful tools for CHEAP. You could also pass these tools along for the construction of temple #2, #3 etc.

well i deffintly wouldnt be bulit with straw lol. im thinking rail road ties and cement. perferabally a monlithic slab with the states code of preminter inslulation off set form the sides of the footer with a double matted reinforce rebar mat ththere will have too be a thicked slab running down the middle and sides snice it will be too storys with a attic area the rail ties think like buliding with legos space then kinda like they are 8ftlong and 12inchs wide so if you where to stack them two feet apart the first row and then your next coruse offset them agin to leave a two foot space you could form a concrete block wich on the next course would be a railroad tie snice the offset wpould be wod block wood blod kinda thing the floors them self would be raidant heat and as ive said before nobody will say anything about a barn that people live in its just a small town small county and i own the land so i dont need permission form no one a simple buliding permit is all thats nessary seeing as how i have electrical and water hook ups

david tatum wrote: well i deffintly wouldnt be bulit with straw lol. im thinking rail road ties and cement. perferabally a monlithic slab with the states code of preminter inslulation off set form the sides of the footer with a double matted reinforce rebar mat ththere will have too be a thicked slab running down the middle and sides snice it will be too storys with a attic area the rail ties think like buliding with legos space then kinda like they are 8ftlong and 12inchs wide so if you where to stack them two feet apart the first row and then your next coruse offset them agin to leave a two foot space you could form a concrete block wich on the next course would be a railroad tie snice the offset wpould be wod block wood blod kinda thing the floors them self would be raidant heat and as ive said before nobody will say anything about a barn that people live in its just a small town small county and i own the land so i dont need permission form no one a simple buliding permit is all thats nessary seeing as how i have electrical and water hook ups

Suppose, hypothetically, a bunch of Jedis decide to come live there. Also suppose there's a media frenzy and a bunch of reporters come and put it on the news... Finally, suppose busloads of tourists start stopping by there like they do to the Amish communities. It would be wise to get the right permits before-hand.

More on shipping containers:
The price for a 20′ shipping container (not including delivery) can range from $2500 to $4000. You can stick build a building with the same amount of square footage, that is just as water tight and structurally sound using traditional construction methods for less than the cost of a shipping container – it just won’t weigh as much.

Do you live near a port and have a really big truck?

The weight and strength of steel containers would hold up to cat5 hurricanes better than anything stick built...I live in florida, and we have some of the strictest requirements in regards to hurricane code...to build anything in excess of the current codes costs considerable money...I've done job costing several times...to build an add-on enclosed 8 foot by 12 foot porch to code cost a customer 5000 dollars...that was materials,permits,and labor....and the slab was already installed....no matter what materials/method you use it's a constant weighing of cost/material/life of project....

well if they came to live there it would be fine i really think you are over thinking the media coverage thing though and as for bus loadsi really think we wouldnt have to worry about bus loads of tourist in heartford north carolinea lol again your input is important to me but your thinkingon a larger scale than is nessacaray

Jabi Musah wrote: So if it's a "barn" per say, where do they draw the line? If people start living there how does that change things? Do we only need to "say" it's a barn? What are the requirements?

So has anyone experienced working with non traditional building materials like rammed earth, straw, or other earthen homes? Who ultimately do we need permission from to build and where can we find the 'standards' it must be built to?

You can't have people live in a barn. Eventually someone will notice it and report it and then you get a fine.

For a temple, the correct regulations could be found under church regs. For housing, house regs, etc. The reason for this is you don't want to have to pay taxes... so if you put up a temple and call it a barn, the assessor comes and sends you a big fat tax bill.

I've done some work with compressed earth tire walls. It takes a lot of labour.

david tatum wrote: well if they came to live there it would be fine i really think you are over thinking the media coverage thing though and as for bus loadsi really think we wouldnt have to worry about bus loads of tourist in heartford north carolinea lol again your input is important to me but your thinkingon a larger scale than is nessacaray

No it really happens. There are all these retired seniors who go to all 50 states and see every attraction. One day I was at Jim Bishop's castle in the middle of nowhere when 4 buses pulled up. About 100 people came and cleared out the gift shop and walked through the castle. In the Amish communities they have an entire industry that caters to these buses and people who drive out for a decent meal or some hand-made furniture.

well if you where reading instead well see if they come come a sguest and stay as long as they want and it really isnt a barn you just anit looking into the big picture there is nothing around this place lol and really wouldnt be much of a tourist attarction like the amish comunities because we wouldnt catter to them snice the land is located near about twenty farms in the area no one would notice how many people are there and the people that are around really wouldnt care i understand your points but what your not understanding is ive thought about this alot and in depth the upper half the liveing corders if you will shall be listed as storage its not the bissness of the county in to what we store the bathrooms are ment for use for the farm workers and those that vist the barn there is akitchen area but you dont have to have a reason for a kitchen really ive looked into it and everything that you claim needs to be done doesnt really need to be done i can on and on about privacy and how sucluded this place is but it seems to me that you are looking for my way is better than yours by all means bulid your temple and ill bulid my barn

and also i would like to add the the state law in carlolinea in order to say you live some where you have to stay there indoors for a period of 14 days so on the 13th day if you go stay at a hotel orsomething of the sorts it starts over so let the assors come i know my rights as a land owner

david tatum wrote: well if you where reading instead well see if they come come a sguest and stay as long as they want and it really isnt a barn you just anit looking into the big picture there is nothing around this place lol and really wouldnt be much of a tourist attarction like the amish comunities because we wouldnt catter to them snice the land is located near about twenty farms in the area no one would notice how many people are there and the people that are around really wouldnt care i understand your points but what your not understanding is ive thought about this alot and in depth the upper half the liveing corders if you will shall be listed as storage its not the bissness of the county in to what we store the bathrooms are ment for use for the farm workers and those that vist the barn there is akitchen area but you dont have to have a reason for a kitchen really ive looked into it and everything that you claim needs to be done doesnt really need to be done i can on and on about privacy and how sucluded this place is but it seems to me that you are looking for my way is better than yours by all means bulid your temple and ill bulid my barn

The big picture is this: 60 containers at $3k is $180k. If you get a barn permit you'll be paying taxes on your barn. If you get a church permit you pay no taxes.

There is no my way. If your way is to get a barn permit for a temple and list living quarters as storage... you're probably suffering from some kind of capitalist delusion.

I think it sounds like you're just trying to get around the rules and regulations. I bet you the people that enforce such things have seen every which way you can get around them and I bet they can afford better lawyers than we can

You want to take the risk? Fine. But I'm not going to contribute to the construction of something with dubious legal foundations...

This thread is starting to be influenced by the dark side. Let try to stay on the positive side of this, if we can.

Jus'sayin.

jimcode3 wrote:

This thread is starting to be influenced by the dark side. Let try to stay on the positive side of this, if we can.

Jus'sayin.

Agreed. I think we can find a way to meet everybody's needs. A barn here, some housing there, a dome in between, a shipping container there, a hot tub, sweat-lodge, pool, gazebo, dojo, strawbale building, garden, farm(to go with the barn). Most communities have these anyway so it's not totally impossible if you have a community effort.

I think there should be a giant harp in the gazebo and it should overlook a pond with ducks. It might also be neat if someone who wants to make a hobbit-house came and built one. I's also like to see tree-houses, hammocks, and a confidence course.

Just throwing out ideas.

What about Hawaii? Tropical paradise anyone? Beaches, sunshine, warmth, flower leis, fresh mangoes, ocean, jungle, etc.

Perhaps the fact that we're not really concentrated in any one area is a good thing... It opens the possibly to locate the temple anywhere and then it's equally inconvenient for everyone, lol. So might as well just build it where you want to, rather than where you have to.