Eco-Friendly, Storm-Resistant Monolithic Dome Home Featured in “My San Antonio”

Nanette South Clark • Published • In The Media

An eco-friendly and storm-resistant 2,980-square-foot Monolithic Dome Home under construction in Indiana is featured in My San Antonio in the story, Family hopes dome house helps move them off grid.

The story, based on an article originally published in The Herald-Times, by Abby Tonsing, explains how Brandy Simon and her husband, John, who moved to rural Owen County from Florida about six years ago, plan to live almost completely off the grid in the next 10 years.

The Simons have always been interested in nontraditional homes, originally planning to build their home by burying shipping containers. But, after realizing the cost of building an underground home was prohibitive, the Simons decided to build a Monolithic Dome Home.

The Herald-Times reports that “The dome is designed to be longer-lasting, more energy efficient and capable of withstanding the strongest of tornadoes and other disasters,” and that FEMA “offers a Hazard Mitigation Grant Program that offers some financial assistance for concrete dome-shaped safe rooms for communities and schools.”

Brandy is quoted in the article as saying, “We’re trying to be environmentally friendly, and it’s really hard to do in this day and age.” One of the ways she is planning to make her home more eco-friendly is by xeriscaping. She says her family will design the garden and landscaping to require little to no watering. Another way the Simons are making their home more eco-friendly is by using repurposed items as furnishings.

The Simon family’s 37-acre property off U.S. 231 will provide plenty of room to keep their 2 children, dogs, horses, goats, pheasants, llamas and an emu happy. The property sits behind an electric fence with the Monolithic Dome home accessed by a 1,000-foot walk up a steep hill.

When finished, the Simon’s plan for their home to have a master bedroom and bath, two more bedrooms up a spiral staircase with a bathroom and loft area, a pantry, laundry room, storage room and half-bath. Brandy plans to custom-make her own stained glass windows for the arches above the doors, Tonsing reports.

We, here at Monolithic, are excited to see the Simon’s finished Monolithic Dome Home!