Monolithic Dome Rentals

“If you build them, they will rent.” Monolithic’s President David B. South has been saying that since mid-2000 when the company first began planning the building of an experimental complex of dome rentals. Monolithic’s goal was to provide clean, secure, and — most importantly — affordable housing for low-income individuals.

The idea or goal came about because of media reports and information on the Web about growing, nationwide shortage of affordable housing. People particularly affected, in both rural and urban areas, included single men and women with minimum wage jobs, single mothers, senior citizens with inadequate or no pensions, and victims of work layoffs or company downsizing.

Please see Domeliving.com for more information on this cottage style living.


Monolithic dome rentals featured on Good Morning Texas

Monolithic Dome Rental Units in Italy, Texas.

Recently, WFAA Channel 8 featured Monolithic’s president, David South, and his monolithic dome rental units on Good Morning Texas. Reporter, Paige McCoy Smith, traveled to Monolithic’s headquarters in Italy, Texas to interview Mr. South and see first-hand, “How these domestic domes can become dream dwellings for people around the world.”

An American Irony: One Man’s Struggle for Monolithic Dome Rentals

David South said, “This map shows the proximity of the cities involved. They are right on the coast, directly in hurricane alley. If any place in the world needs Monolithic Domes, it’s hurricane alley. The domes will protect lives, and the fact that they can be built for no more than conventional, and generally less, is a miracle. Frank is trying to make this a better world in the 21st Century.”

For several years now, Frank Smith has been unsuccessfully struggling with politicians, city councils and business people, trying to get their approval to build drastically needed Monolithic Dome rentals in their communities. Those Texas communities include Corpus Christi, Ingleside and Aransas Pass. All are in a hurricane-prone area – the same hurricane-prone area that made Woodsboro ISD eligible for a FEMA grant.

America’s Growing Need for Housing

I am often amazed by a community’s initial response for permission to build affordable, clean, safe, low-maintenance, long-lasting housing.

Safe, Affordable Housing is Possible with Monolithic Technology

When we think of people who do not have access to clean drinking water and sanitation, the image of refugees in Africa or other parts of the developing world usually come to mind. But the poor and homeless in the United States often face the very same problems, according to a U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation. After a U.S. visit earlier this year, the U.N. investigator Catarina de Albuquerque found that the challenges faced by U.S. homeless are in violation of international human rights standards.

Project: The Future of Senior Living

The Future of Senior Living Project – Its ongoing mission is the creation, implementation and development of an innovative living environment for seniors. 

As a professional with experience in the best practices of gerontology, psychology and human relations both in Europe and America, I believe that Old Age should be as enjoyable as any other season of human life. The Future of Senior Living Project has a mission to create, implement and continuously develop an innovative concept for happy and healthy aging in a safe and comfortable home and family environment, with opportunities for community senior activities and information resources for social, medical, financial and other services applicable to the elderly.

Letter From: Kevin McGuckin- The Inn Place at Brenham, Texas

On a stretch of Interstate 35, in Central Texas between Waco and Waxahachie, is an enormous caterpillar. The curious stop to explore and come across Monolithic Dome Village. The caterpillar is a manufacturing warehouse; there are dome offices, dome storage buildings and upwards of 60 domes rented out as single person dwellings.  I was informed that these buildings are ‘green’ in every way.  They will withstand winds of 450 miles an hour (FEMA rates them as near absolute protection), they are environmentally friendly and have an R value of 60.  Their lifespan is measured in centuries, they don’t burn, or rot, or get eaten by termites. I decided to sign up for the workshop that Monolithic offers to learn how to build them.

The Io-24

The Io-24 — It’s built on a three-foot stemwall and has a diameter of twenty-four feet and a height of nine feet.

Although it’s small, the Io-24 is a Monolithic Dome that provides disaster-resistant and fire-resistant security. It’s energy-efficient and easy to maintain. Those qualities make the Io-24 a great rental for retired seniors or a single working person.

The Io-20

The Monolithic Io-20 — This dome has the innate ability to resist natural disasters, such as tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes, as well as fire, termites and rot.

This Monolithic Dome is an oblate built on a 3.5-foot stemwall. It has a diameter of 20 feet, an overall height of 10.5 feet and a living area of 314 square feet.

Why We Need Io-20 Residence Inns

Nickel and Dimed — Best-selling author Barbara Ehrenreich details one of America’s primary problems: housing for low-income wage earners.

We are finding that an Io-20 even when rented at an affordable, fair price will turn a profit for the owner. Conclusion: It is possible to provide drastically needed housing and make money at the same time. That’s a win-win!

Monolithic’s Io-24

Although it’s small, the Io-24 is a Monolithic Dome that provides disaster-resistant and fire-resistant security. It’s energy-efficient and easy to maintain.

Monolithic’s Oberon Four-plex

The Oberon Four-Plex — It’s a Monolithic Dome that is an oblate ellipse, with a diameter of 32 feet and a height of 12 feet.

Our new Oberon Four-plex is a Monolithic Dome oblate ellipse, with a diameter of 32 feet and a height of 12 feet, that encompasses four, separate apartments. With a living area of 201 square feet –– about the size of a large, double motel room –– the apartments are designed for one-person occupancy.

A Need for Petite Housing

Secret Garden — Dome rentals located in a downtown area.

I have been contacted by various cities about building little rental units as part of the answer to affordable housing in their areas. Many city administrators now acknowledge that their towns lack affordable housing for those who work and live on the lower end of the pay scale. Those same areas often lack affordable housing for seniors, the physically and mentally challenged, and others.

Introducing the Io-16.5

The Io-16.5 — It’s a Monolithic Dome with an oblate ellipse shape that has a diameter of just 16.5 feet, a height of 9 feet and a living area of 210 square feet.

Like its larger siblings, an Io-16.5 has the strength and durability of steel-reinforced concrete, insulated with polyurethane foam and blanketed with an Airform. It’s energy-efficient, easily maintained, disaster- and burglar-resistant, fire- and termite-proof.

The Inn Place — New Rentals, Old Pattern

A successful rental complex — While attending a Monolithic Workshop in 2005, Kevin studied the Monolithic construction process and reviewed the rental facility Monolithic operated in Italy, Texas.

As a participant in our September 2005 Workshop, Kevin McGuckin studied the Monolithic construction process. He also inspected domes at and near our headquarters, including Monolithic’s rental facilities. What he saw and learned convinced him to build a Monolithic Dome rental complex.

Navajo Nation Housing Project

Rentals — These 32-foot-diameter Monolithic Domes are residential rentals built for Tolchii’ Kooh teachers and citizens at Taloni Lake, Arizona.

Tolchii’ Kooh, a nonprofit organization, is a recipient of a HUD/NAJASDA Grant to build a Monolithic Dome, 36-unit, housing project for teachers and staff and as rentals for residents of the reservation . The homes are located next to the charter school on the Navajo Nation reservation at Taloni Lake, Arizona — some 65 miles east northeast of Flagstaff.