’Round To It

This blog welcomes and includes contributions by all Monolithic Dome enthusiasts, as well as illustrated articles that feature interviews we have done with various experts. It also includes fun videos. Best of all, the blog includes a special section in which owners can post information and pictures of a completed Monolithic Dome home that is for sale. We feel that information should be a help to folks wishing to sell their Monolithic Dome home as well as those looking to buy. Please visit the ‘Round To It blog frequently and review items as they’re submitted.


People came prepared for the Arcadia Dome Home tour in 2022

Sunset at Arcadia Dome Home in Providence, Utah

Thirty people toured our house — Arcadia Dome Home — during the annual dome tour on October 15, 2022. Most visitors came from Utah or southern Idaho, but some came from as far away as Colorado. They didn’t come empty-handed. They had ideas, sketches and questions about building their own dome home. So. Many. Questions.

Honoring sunflower yellow and sky blue

A yellow and blue dome shows is our emblem of support for Ukraine.

The colors of the Ukrainian flag — sunflower yellow and sky blue — are everywhere. The colors grace magazines, landmarks, clothing, flowers, and even cosmonauts. We are adding our own emblem of support with a Monolithic Dome twist — and a plea.

Hard math, made easy, when calculating a horizontal ellipsoid

Orthographic sketch of design ideas used in the new horizontal ellipsoid calculator.

What are the areas and volume of a horizontal ellipsoid dome? There isn’t an easy answer. Spherical domes have well-defined formulas. Vertical ellipsoids are symmetrical. But tip an elliptical dome on its side and measuring it gets a whole lot harder.

TBT: Design inspiration in a frozen hotel

Art Suite at Ice Hotel in Sweden

In today’s Throwback Thursday we revisit the Ice Hotel — 200 km north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden. This unique hotel is built and rebuilt every winter using ice, snow, and a lot of creativity. It’s a masterpiece of design and an inspiration for curved architecture elements that could be built — permanently — using a Monolithic Dome.

Monolithic Dome industry response to COVID-19

We’re all in this together

After receiving so many COVID-19 related emails — some from companies we haven’t dealt with since the early 2000s — we feel it’s time to discuss how COVID-19 is impacting the Monolithic Dome industry. But first, we want to thank you.

The “spaceship” house for sale again in Colorado

Back porch

Architect Jason Elliott Purdy designed the “spaceship” house for Clarence and Louise Lederhos who constructed the dome in 1978. “For some reason, I always wanted to live in a round house,” said Louise Lederhos in an interview. “But it was the energy efficiency that drew us to this design.” In 2016, they sold their home. Today, it’s on the market again.

Captain America’s shield covers MIT Great Dome

Top view of Captain America’s shield

MIT students hacked the MIT Great Dome by turning it into Captain America’s shield in honor of Avengers: Endgame. According to the Boston Globe, “dozens of people worked on the project for months, which they started planning about a year ago after learning a new Marvel movie was going to be released.”

Monolithic Dome cameo in upcoming ABC TV show

Dome cameo

A shoutout for the Monolithic Dome making a brief cameo in the trailer for ABC’s new show, Stumptown. The trailer clearly shows the cement storage facility built for Lone Star Northwest, Inc. on the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon.

Animals—and people—sheltered in dome during Hurricane Michael

Main entrance

Forecasts predicted Hurricane Michael would land in Panama City as a strong, but still manageable, Category 3 hurricane. Employees of the Humane Society of Bay County — along with their families, friends, cats, and dogs — spent the day preparing to ride out the hurricane under the protection of their Monolithic Dome. As everyone settled in for the night, no one expected anything too severe. Then Hurricane Michael intensified into the strongest hurricane to ever hit the Florida panhandle.

Hurricane Michael smashes power transformer into Monolithic Dome home

Destroyed house

Hurricane Michael smashed a power transformer into Margaret Clayton’s caterpillar shaped Monolithic Dome home. The home is a few miles southeast of Mexico Beach in Port Saint Joe, Florida. Clayton stayed in her home during the hurricane. Everything was going well — until her neighbor’s house exploded.

No word yet from dome owners hit by Hurricane Michael

Mexico Beach devastation

We haven’t reached any dome owners in the area hit by Hurricane Michael. The city manager of Panama City Beach, Florida, was on NPR this morning talking about the damage. He said his city fared okay, but the area around Mexico Beach — east of Panama City Beach — was devastated. Widespread power failures, destroyed cell towers, and damaged infrastructure is making communication difficult.

Fire safety comes standard, no sprinklers required

Cosmetic fire damaged Monolithic Dome

Years ago, a late night fire started next to a 10,000-ton urea storage in Channelview, Texas. It consumed three wood structures built against the Monolithic Dome. Over 300 gallons of transformer oil fueled the blaze. For an hour, strong winds blew the inferno directly over the dome.

Different location, same great workshop for Fall 2018 attendees

Fall 2018 class

There are so many domes around the Monolithic Dome Research Park that for the first time the Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop was held out-of-town — mostly. Over 20 students attended the Fall 2018 workshop. They built two, 20-foot diameter domes and one concrete-only Ecoshell in nearby Dawson, Texas.

Colorado dome home visit by dome fan

Exterior

Dome fan, Harry Maldonado, shared this video of his recent visit to a monolithic dome home in Colorado. We believe this home was constructed by Mert Hull near Colorado Springs.

Out on the job site

Oregon dome

Let us take you back to the early days of building Monolithic Domes through the eyes of our Vice President of Sales Gary Clark, who has been building domes for many years.

Ideas to secure dome home financing

Prospective dome homeowners can sometimes run into trouble securing financing for their home. Let us offer some tips on how to do just that.

First steps to a dome

It’s a new year, and that means new resolutions. Here’s how to start on your resolution to build a Monolithic Dome.

A Day in the Life at Monolithic Headquarters

Gary profile

Life at Monolithic headquarters in Italy, Texas is exciting and filled with all things Monolithic Domes. We bring you a first-hand look from our vice president of sales Gary Clark

Deck the Dome

Dome Christmas lights

The Christmas season is already here, and we want to share some dressed up domes with you.

Year in Review: 2016

As the end of the year fast approaches, we look back on what 2016 held for us.

Happy birthday to us: celebrating two milestones this year

Exterior of first Monolithic Dome

This year marks two exciting anniversaries for Monolithic: the 20th anniversary of the Monolithic Dome Institute and the 40th anniversary of the first Monolithic Dome. We take a brief look back on those years and look forward to the future.

A Minion ready to protect against storms

An Ecoshell tornado shelter painted as a Minion from Despicable Me.

“For as long as I can remember, my dad has wanted a Monolithic Dome home,” said Alise Burke in an email about her dad’s new tornado shelter. It’s actually an Ecoshell — a concrete-only dome thinshell. They painted it to look like a Minion from the movie Despicable Me. Burke lives in the country next door to her dad, Ed Kelton, near Farmersville, Texas. Last December “a tornado tore through our rural community and many of our neighbors and my students lost their homes and one lost their child.”

Weather watching at the Monolithic Dome Institute

Weather data on the personal weather station wireless controller. It’s nice to see a live view of all weather data anytime we want.

Ever wonder what the weather’s like at Monolithic? No? Okay, but just in case you were wondering, we have the answer — a Weather Underground connected weather station. It was a Christmas present for David B. South and it’s got all the bells and whistles with temperature, wind speed, barometric pressure, rainfall sensor, humidity, data logging.

A pioneering monolithic-style dome home for sale in Colorado [SOLD]

Rarely does a home with such a rich history and distinctive architecture become available. This extraordinary home — which sits on approximately 3 acres — was constructed in 1978 by the current, original owners. It was a time between two of the worst energy crises in the U.S. — 1973 and 1979 — caused by interruptions in petroleum exports from the Middle East. Oil prices skyrocketed, and many homeowners began to look for alternative energy sources to run their homes. Others decided the best solution was to use less energy.

Shell complete for Arcadia Monolithic Dome home

Finished Monolithic Dome home shell on the south bench of Providence, Utah. The house is named Arcadia. You can follow it’s progress on Facebook or Instagram

The concrete thinshell is complete for our new Monolithic Dome home. Javier, Hector and Jose did a fabulous job. They finished painting the interior last week and returned to Texas. It’s been a long process to get this dome built and now that it’s set in concrete (literally), we love it. It’s time to start work on the interior, but before we begin, let’s talk about how we got here.

Curved inspiration in ice

“X, Y & Z” by Anna Baumgarte & Liubov Moskvina.

We are often asked if living in a Monolithic Dome is like living in a cave. It’s hard for some people to imagine a bright and beautiful interior that’s curved. Even more difficult is imagining the possibilities a dome structure provides. Usually people ask questions about hanging pictures or how well furniture fits against the dome wall. Sometimes, however, designers break through the square world and show us how it’s done. In Sweden, a temporary ice hotel is a masterpiece of curved architecture.

Two safe rooms approved for Tupelo, Mississippi

The Tupelo City Council approved two Monolithic Dome safe rooms — one for Lee Acres, Mississippi and the other for Theron Nichols Park, Mississippi. Each will be large enough to hold over 1,000 residents during a major storm. FEMA grants will pay 90 percent of the cost.

Aerial video of Catoosa Safe Room under construction

Screen capture from aerial video of new Monolithic Dome FEMA safe room under construction.

Greg Miller submitted this great HD aerial video of the Catoosa Public Schools safe room under construction. You can see that work continues on the exterior while Monolithic construction crews work inside. The Monolithic Dome concrete shell is expected to be finished before Christmas.

Hartshorne school bond proposed for gymnasium and library safe rooms

Plan for the new gymnasium includes seating for 1,200. The gym is expected to hold 3,000 during an emergency.

School officials in Hartshorne, Oklahoma want $7.7 million for two safe-rooms — or as we like to think of them — a brand-new, start-of-the-art gymnasium and computer center. It’s quite a different perspective if you think of money serving two purposes. The planned high school gymnasium would be a 150-foot diameter Monolithic Dome with four locker rooms, concessions, offices, a competition basketball court, and seating for 1,200. Plus it’s a tornado shelter! The elementary school gets a brand new library and computer center in a 70-foot diameter dome. And it’s a tornado shelter, too!

Arcadia — Our new dome home

Another rendering of the back of the house.

We’re building a new Monolithic Dome home. It’s been ten years since we left Texas and our wonderful Callisto dome house. Although we love living in Cache Valley — it’s like a swiss valley nestled in the northern Utah mountains — we miss our dome. I grew up in domes. My wife and kids lived in a dome for 10 years. I’m part of the dome business. It’s time to build a dome home.

I’m Cuckoo For Coconuts

Coconut model of future project of Indonesian dome builder, Antonius “Yoss” Yusanto.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do, but when in Indonesia, use coconuts to build scale models of dome projects! Albert Einstein purportedly said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” We agree and think this coconut model of a future project of Indonesian dome builder, Antonius “Yoss” Yusanto, is both creative and smart.

“I Want to Live in a Dome,” a new single by the Rich Lynch Band

Musician, Rich Lynch recently told us, “The only thing I thought I could do to get the dream of living in a dome moving along was to write a song about it.”

Well, he did and we think it’s great! According to his website, “Rockin’ Rich Lynch has been writing and recording music for over 30 years.” This indie rocker out of New Jersey hoping to build his Monolithic Dome Home soon says he’s “ready to build this house – and career – one song at a time.”

Rosa Banksiae grows over dome garage at Charca Casa

Monolithic’s founding guru, David South, wanted to share with the Monolithic Dome community his blooming Rosa Banksiae flowers, often referred to as Lady Bank’s Rosa, that have completely covered his dome-shaped, two-car garage.

David South at Wicked Weather Weekend

Terrible Tuesday happened on April 10, 1979 when a monster EF4 tornado hit Wichita Falls, Texas. This most-damaging tornado in American history killed 45 people and injured hundreds more. Wicked Weather Weekend commemorates Terrible Tuesday and presents plans for coping with and successfully surviving future natural disasters.