The Claddagh Dome—A Really Big Do-It-Yourself Project

Claddagh Dome Home Front Porch.

The Claddagh Dome home features a lovely covered porch and country feel.

Christine Spurgeon / Monolithic Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Traditional Name for a Non-Traditional Home

After two years of getting-in-there-and-getting-your-hands-dirty work, in August 2008, Christine and Jim Spurgeon moved into their new dome home that they named Claddagh Dome. Located in Azle, Texas, a small town 14 miles northwest of Fort Worth, Claddagh Dome’s two stories and 2200 square feet include four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, kitchen, living room, playroom, loft and music room.

The Spurgeons chose the name Claddagh because, according to Irish tradition, the Claddagh’s distinctive design of two hands clasping a crowned heart symbolizes love, friendship and loyalty. And because their wedding rings are also Claddaghs.

A Beautiful Kitchen.

The beautiful warm wood kitchen is the heart of the home.

Christine Spurgeon / Monolithic Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Determined Do-It-Yourselfers

The website Thinkroundhomes.com includes an article Christine wrote about her and Jim’s dome-building experience. In part, Christine writes, “…it took my husband almost ten years to convince me to build a dome home. I had the typical view of wanting what everyone else had, just in my floor plan. My husband has been very patient and has gotten me to change my mind by telling/teaching me all the benefits of a dome. I had to get over what the Jones were doing. Now that I have come around, I am thrilled to be able to build a dome.”

Once Christine agreed, Jim, a structural design engineer, enrolled in Monolithic’s October 2006 Workshop. About that, Christine writes, “Jim really liked the class and learned so much. If you have the chance, Jim highly recommends going. We have received helpful tips from many of you through the discussion board and personal web pages. We thank all of you for your insight and all the great pictures of your dome building. We also hope to help others in their journey of building their dome home by our mistakes and triumphs along the way.”

Now that they’re comfortably settled in their dome home, Christine says, “Anything we could do ourselves, we did and even really tried what we shouldn’t have, like the air form. If we were to do it over again, we would not do the Airform ourselves.

“But I’m glad Jim convinced me to do a dome. I love living in Claddagh.”