Pick a random county in America and try to build a residential dwelling using any sort of alternative materials or architecture for example. To my knowledge, s

Pick a random county in America and try to build a residential dwelling using any sort of alternative materials or architecture for example. To my knowledge, such restrictions are unusual in unincorporated parts of counties (or at least it was considered unusual in the '70s that the Colorado county including Aspen and Snowmass had a severe zoning regime). Certainly so in mine, Jasper County, Missouri (which includes most of Joplin); right now I'm living in an 3 story Amish barn with a frame that's 100% wood (no nails or other metals holding it together). The county didn't care. And for those areas that do, ignoring the issue of aesthetics, it's my understanding that the usual requirement is to get a certified engineer to sign off on the design. Conventional approaches are essentially pre-certified, and are generally sane.