diff --git a/lib/middleman/templates.rb b/lib/middleman/templates.rb
index 45d683f3..4da13659 100644
--- a/lib/middleman/templates.rb
+++ b/lib/middleman/templates.rb
@@ -19,13 +19,18 @@ module Middleman::Templates
     include Thor::Actions
     
     argument :location, :type => :string
-    class_option :css_dir, :default => "stylesheets", :desc => 'The path to the css files'
-    class_option :js_dir, :default => "javascripts", :desc => 'The path to the javascript files'
-    class_option :images_dir, :default => "images", :desc => 'The path to the image files'
+    class_option :template, :default => "default"
+    class_option :css_dir, :default => "stylesheets"
+    class_option :js_dir, :default => "javascripts"
+    class_option :images_dir, :default => "images"
   end
 end
 
 # Default template
 require "middleman/templates/default"
+
 # HTML5 template
-require "middleman/templates/html5"
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+require "middleman/templates/html5"
+
+# Local templates
+require "middleman/templates/local"
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diff --git a/lib/middleman/templates/local.rb b/lib/middleman/templates/local.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..affaf8da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/middleman/templates/local.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+module Middleman
+  def self.templates_path
+    File.join(`cd ~ && pwd`.chomp, ".middleman")
+  end
+end
+
+class Middleman::Templates::Local < Middleman::Templates::Base
+  def self.source_root
+    Middleman.templates_path
+  end
+
+  def build_scaffold
+    directory options[:template].to_s, location
+  end  
+end
+
+Dir[File.join(Middleman.templates_path, "*")].each do |dir|
+  next unless File.directory?(dir)
+  Middleman::Templates.register(File.basename(dir).to_sym, Middleman::Templates::Local)
+end
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