Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: geodesic dome

[Lynn Nadeau (welcome]

RoseWind Cohousing is "lot development model", which is to say individual 
members had their homes built, themselves, with a lot of variety in the 
choices made. One of our homes is a dome. I watched it built, conversed with 
the builder, and spent time in it visiting the owners. 

The dome is fairly large - can't tell you the exact dimensions but on a 
floor and a half, and maybe counting a small studio space on the lot, it's 
2370 sq ft. The dome frame came from a dome company in Port Orchard WA. The 
folks who sold it were more salespeople than builders: once it was sold, 
they had little helpful input. 

The frame went up quickly. The rest was rather complex, and took a great 
deal of custom work. Standard building materials - lumber and roofing for 
example - are rectilinear and every piece had to be custom cut to fit the 
angles of its location. This was not a savings in either materials or labor. 
In fact, it was wasteful of materials, and took a lot of extra labor. 

The result is beautiful, very aesthetic with high ceiling over the living 
room (second floor is a mezzanine, on about half the upper area, like a big 
balcony). One of the owners was a Danish artist who also furnished it with 
large bright artworks which added to the effect. There are two bedrooms, two 
baths, plus an office room. It's a gorgeous home. (If your dream is to live 
in such a home, let me know and I'll tell you if it ever is for sale!) 

All in all, I'd say it was a luxury choice, not one that saved money or 
environmental impact (that's a LOT of asphalt roofing shingles). 

Lynn at RoseWind, Port Townsend WA
http://www.rosewind.org
where we have a beautiful two-story strawbale house for sale @ $448K.