Off-Grid Living in Antrim, New Hampshire

Antrim, New Hampshire is a zoned town, not the wide-open unzoned situation you find in some rural counties. That matters a lot for anyone dreaming about buying raw land here and doing whatever they want with it. The Town of Antrim adopted zoning back in 1989 under authority the state legislature gave New Hampshire municipalities in 1925, and it's been updated since, including a 2026 Zoning Ordinance I pulled from the town's own site. There are twelve separate zoning districts in Antrim, covering things like Rural, Lakefront Residential, Shoreland Protection, and Flood Plain Development, each with its own lot-size, setback, and use rules. If you're eyeing shoreline property, the Lakefront Residential district has notably large lot and frontage requirements, and there's also a Steep Slopes overlay tied to an "Antrim Slopes Map" for land over 15% grade. Bottom line: where your land sits inside those twelve districts changes what you're allowed to do, so this is a "call the Planning Board first" situation, not a "read one rule and you're set" situation.

On tiny homes and RVs specifically, I did not find explicit ordinance language in my research. The general zoning ordinance defines dwelling units and requires zoning/site compliance review for building permits, and the Building Inspector's checklist notes some projects need a variance or special exception from the Zoning Board of Adjustment. I'd treat RV or tiny-home-on-wheels living as unconfirmed until you ask the Building & Code Enforcement office directly.

Building permits are required and administered locally by Antrim's Building & Code Enforcement office, checked against the Zoning Ordinance. Septic systems fall under New Hampshire state law (NHDES), which requires a permitted septic system for any structure with a connected water supply discharging wastewater on site; however, composting toilets and privies are allowed under state law with local health officer approval of location and construction. I saw a real example where Antrim's Building Inspector told an applicant a privy could work with ZBA approval plus state sign-off, so expect a two-layer (town + state) process.

Greywater reuse has no confirmed Antrim-specific rule, and I couldn't find a state-level rule either, so treat this as genuinely unclear and ask the Building Inspector or NHDES directly. Rainwater harvesting appears fine generally, though Antrim's Shoreland Protection District requires a stormwater management plan for structures near water, and the town's Conservation Commission has pointed applicants toward the state's "Soak up the Rain" guidance in at least one case. Private wells follow the state Water Well Board process; I found no Antrim-specific well ordinance. Finally, I found no explicit Antrim law forcing you to hook up to utilities, but that doesn't mean anything goes, since all the zoning, building, and septic rules above still apply regardless of grid connection.