The 8th Annual Monolithic Dome Tour – 2008

On October 24 and 25, 2008, more than thirty proud owners of Monolithic Dome homes participated in our Dome Tour.

In Sedona, Arizona, Mason Rumney often opens his 40-foot diameter dome, that includes a loft, jacuzzi and sauna and that started an off-grid neighborhood, to visitors. On October 4, sixty curious people visited and during the Tour another thirty showed up. Most have many questions about this solar and wind powered dome that for the past three years has been heated and cooled for just $15 per year. Mason said he has “a great time” educating his visitors and plans another open house for November 1.

Michael Otto and Vicki Hutchison of San Diego, California describe their two domes as “works-in-progress.” They have a 32’ X 15’ dome with two bedrooms and a bath in 804 square feet and a dome cabin with a loft. Michael said, “The tour went well. I had twelve visitors and a call from a lady who asked if she could arrange for a visit at another time. Two sets of my visitors were very educated about domes and hope to build them in California in the future. They stayed for approximately 1.5 hours, asking many questions.”

When completed, Keith Wortman’s Bristlecone Dome in Fairplay, Colorado will consist of three attached domes with a total of 3770 square feet. Although he had just two visitors during the tour, Keith had several people “just drop in” during the week.

Beth and Ray Merrell’s Mountain View Dome in Pueblo, Colorado — seven interconnected domes — attracted more than a dozen. Ray said that one group was “quite interested” although the wife was “very skeptical of domes,” so he gave them a detailed tour and shared his personal feelings about domes with them.

Margaret and Charles Simmons of Jay, Florida had about thirty visitors to their 50’ X 30’ dome that has guest rooms and a garage on the lower level, a 26’ wide glass window wall, a balcony and a view of a delightful pond. Charles said that one visiting couple, who had lost their home in a hurricane and fire, stayed for 2.5 hours and asked many questions.

Joe Gora, owner of Free Will Dome in Marietta, Georgia said that he had twelve people at his 42’ diameter, “empty nester” that includes one bedroom with jacuzzi, a bath, an open kitchen, a spacious loft and a patio. One of his visitors had traveled there from North Carolina.

In Menan, Idaho, Randy South’s three interconnected domes and Andrew South’s earth-bermed dome-home attracted a dozen interested visitors.

In Velpen, Indiana, Rachel and Randy Clark’s three interconnected domes, located at the edge of a small lake and bordering woods, received thirty-five visitors, all of whom took a Monolithic Dome free brochure.

Mabel and Jack Boyt of Ankeny, Iowa, owners of three interconnected domes with a living area of 4600 square feet, had a “wonderful” Tour day. Mabel said, “We had over 400 people … from 23 cities in Iowa, from 8 other states (Nebraska, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada) and from 3 other countries (Sir Lanka, Sudan, Kenya).” Some were forced to park two blocks away.

In Moro, Illinois, Joe Downer’s dome-home is still in construction. He had about twelve visitors, four of whom traveled for more than an hour to see his dome.

Despite the rain, Rodger Dorn in Orlando, Florida had a dozen visitors. They toured the 46’ diameter dome that has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and 1590 square feet.

Deanna and Darrell Henderson of Arlington, Kansas reported a “really interesting tour this year, we were part of the planning crew for the Arlington, KS Main Street Event, and so we had a booth at the street vendors location as well as the open house. We had about 28 visitors sign our guestbook as well as a few who didn’t. We also had the good fortune this year to get a radio interview with a local station, and got to discuss the domes on air.”

In Las Vegas, Nevada, the FenixDome of Su-Z and David Allen is a 50’ X 25’ two-story dome still in construction by Ray Ansel of RS Lifeline Construction. The Allens said that during the Tour they had Ray Ansel there to answer construction-related questions. Unfortunately, their local newspaper printed the Tour date as Oct. 26 instead of Oct. 25. But they still had 81 visitors on Saturday and another 30 on Sunday.

Peggy Atwood’s Outpost Planet Earth in Kerhonkson, New York is a 3200-square-foot double dome-home with a passive solar system, radiant floor heating and a wood-burning stove. Peggy said, “I had a total of 18 people, all very interested and some quite knowledgeable, it was wonderful.” She gave extensive talks and answered loads of questions.

In Bunkerville, Nevada, Diane and John Kerst have a two-story Monolithic Dome with 4869 square feet, a swimming pool room, a balcony across the living room, a circular conch-shell shower, custom curved stairs and a state-of-the-art kitchen. For them, the Tour was very slow, probably because of their location. They said, “Last year we had a lot of people, but they drove a long way to get here. We did not expect them back this year. We gave fliers to those who did come.”

Verlene and John Cooper of Yachats, Oregon had about 45 visitors. John said that each stayed more than an hour and some stayed for two hours. Family members and friends gave tours and “there was a tremendous amount of interest in Monolithic Domes.” Some visitors traveled more than six hours.

Barbara and Erling Rosholdt of Insight Horizons in Lousia, Virginia showed their three domes by appointment. They arranged three tours for their eight visitors and shared much information about Monolithic Domes and Monolithic Workshops.

In Whitewright, Texas, Yolinda and Harold Huber of Huber Construction own a dome-home with a loft constructed of local red cedar lumber and kitchen cabinets made of native Texas pecan wood with red cedar accents. A dozen people toured their home.

Elizabeth and Len Evans of Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada enjoy a living area of 2000 square feet in their 50’ X 18’ Monolithic Dome. Len said that they had fifty visitors and that the Tour went “really well.” Some of their visitors were builders seeking information about Monolithic Dome construction.

Note: October 31, 2008