Where to build cheaply, w/relaxed building codes? (Portland, Hallowell: renting, insurance)

[Zome]

Hello friends--I'm looking for advice on building cheaply in Maine.

My partner and I live in Portland, and find ourselves stuck on the treadmill of working and renting in the city. (Caveat: from away--my parents moved to Maine (Hallowell) when I was 9.)

We want to build someplace where there are few restrictions--where the local planning board won't look askance at using recycled lumber, or need to know every subcontractor in advance, or send Code to check out the plumbing before, during, and after construction.

Our dream is to build a small structure in the style of "Handmade Houses," "Woodstock Handmade Houses," "Shelter," etc.--basically a 70s fantasy of a Frankenstein of salvaged materials, assembled artfully and intelligently to work with the landscape and elements, at our own pace and on a modest scale.

The professionalization of every aspect of building and planning seems to place this dream out of reach. The codes seem written to make sure there's work for Maine's ample and seemingly underemployed reserve corps of builders, inspectors, etc.

Maine's Shelter Institute, and any number of vendors at the Common Ground Fair, and the general vibe of midcoast Maine seem to suggest that DIY, vaguely eco building is totally possible--but is it only for the already quite rich?

How far north (or west) must one go to find a place where this is possible? Do you need a time machine?

Any suggestions or recommendations as to resources would be welcome.

[Zome]

Let me clarify: not looking to flout building codes, just looking for a place where the planning board isn't super skeptical, makes you get a permit to build a shed, etc. We want to do things safely and intelligently, but we don't have the money to get all the subcontractors lined up in advance.

[AustinB]

Stay out of the bigger towns and cities and you should be fine.

[retiredtinbender]

Maine has an official building code (7 parts all together) that has entwined itself into all aspects of home building. However (comma) towns with populations of less than 4,000 people do not have to enforce it. Therefore there is no enforcement in these places. The only fol;ks that MAY ask for a certificate of occupancy from the town is the mortgage holder or the insurance company. A law witht no teeth, if you will. Look to these towns first and talk to the code enforcement officer about how stringent they are. You may be surprised. And from what I have heard on here parts of the UT does not care about any of them other than a septic plan. Good luck to you both and keep the American dream going

[Northern Maine Land Man]

I know a guy who built a "Stuga". That's a Swedish forest house you walk in one end and out the other and it is as though you never left the forest. All inside materials are natural wood, some with the bark still on. (You need to know which woods hold their bark when dry.) There is no code for such a home. The whole thing is a work of art with carved forest gnomes peeking around corners.

In Maine you can build a straw bale house with stucco inside and out. You can't do that in Portland. You just need to know where you can do it. Know before you buy your land.

[Submariner]

I am skeptical of straw-bale homes in Maine. I have seen them in other drier locations, but I think it is too moist here for them.

Cordwood homes can be nice.

[Zome]

Athens? Montville? Troy???