Feature Stories

The South’s say goodbye to the South Sawmill Lodge

Aerial view of South Sawmill Lodge in Island Park, Idaho.

POSTED 16 Jun 2021 By Dave South

It’s time to say goodbye to the South Sawmill Lodge. Randy South’s family of South Industries started the 90-foot diameter dome in 2009 on the old family homestead in Island Park, Idaho. Over the next four years, the family squeezed in time to finish the dome which became a lodge and reunion center rented out to dozens of families over the years. The lodge sold this spring. … read more

Tour a remarkable underground Monolithic Dome home for sale in North Texas

The hobbit house entrance to the underground Monolithic Dome house in Buffalo, Texas.

POSTED 21 Oct 2020 By Rebecca South

The underground dome house in North Texas is getting a lot of attention. This completely hidden Monolithic Dome home is totally unique, absolutely private, and currently up for sale. In addition to real estate listings and coverage by local news websites, national news outlets like HouseBeautiful.com and Today.com have published stories about this unusual house. … read more

The story of a Hawaiian dream home — now for sale

POSTED 14 Jul 2020 By Dyrinda Tyson

Whoever buys Jo King’s Hawaiian dome will buy so much more than a home. They’re buying a dream. The dome has a lot to offer, starting with breath-taking views. Snuggled on an acre of land in the Waimea Valley on Kauai, it’s surrounded by an abundance of history and natural beauty. The open floor plan offers two bedrooms and two and a half baths upstairs with another bath as well as two outdoor showers downstairs, all covering about 1,700 square feet. Painted coconut palms adorn the concrete walls, and a large lanai takes full advantage of the scenery. … read more

The many uses of a Mississippi storm shelter

Aerial view of safe room near both elementary schools

POSTED 6 Jun 2020 By Dyrinda Tyson

As tornadoes tore through parts of their state on Easter weekend 2020, many Louisville, Mississippi, residents made their way to their community safe room — again. … read more

Delaware Military Academy: Fulfilling their mission in a Monolithic Dome

Outside of Anthony N. Fusco Sr. Athletic Center

POSTED 17 Apr 2020 By Amy South

Located in Wilmington, Delaware, the Delaware Military Academy is home to the first Monolithic Dome of its kind in the Mid Atlantic United States. With over 500 young cadets attending the school, the dome has opened up new opportunities for the cadets. The administration of the academy has expressed gratitude for the many benefits of a Monolithic Dome, and the cooperation and generosity of those involved to make the project completion possible. … read more

A new landmark: Palapa Pineapple Monolithic Dome home stands tall

POSTED 13 Apr 2020 By Dyrinda Tyson

For the Spellings, a house on the beach was their dream. Inspired by a Monolithic Dome Island Resort, Dave Spellings decided that a dome would be the perfect abode for him and his wife. Overlooking the Caribbean Sea, the two-story dome home provides a comfortable place for the couple to enjoy their island life. … read more

The Hennessey superintendent said, ‘I want to build a dome.’

POSTED 28 Jan 2020 By Jack Quirk

Before the sun came up on a cold December morning, the crew turned on the four large blowers that were to inflate the structure. They said it should take about three hours to completely inflate, which gave my team plenty of time to set up the four time-lapse cameras, a drone, and several ground video cameras. Next thing we knew, the roof was up within minutes, including that big heavy ring. We were not ready! Think about this, an entire weather-sealed, full-size gymnasium was completely standing in about 45 minutes! … read more

Tour the nearly completed Jackson Farmers fertilizer blend plant

Aerial view of Monolithic Dome fertilizer blend plant

POSTED 25 Sep 2019 By Dave South

The tent is up, chairs placed underneath, tables set up nearby, grills are hot, steaks are ready, and pickups are parking on the grassy field. Time again for the annual Jackson Farmers, Inc. open house where farmers see demonstration crops, listen to sales presentations, eat steak, drink beer, and — this time — inspect their new Monolithic Dome fertilizer blend plant. … read more

The Vanguard School charters K-12 education in new Monolithic Dome

POSTED 7 Nov 2018 By Robin Intemann

Facing west toward the Front Range of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, The Vanguard School in Colorado Springs provides a dramatic foreground thanks to its royal blue sports field and the dome structure situated nearby. The 20,000-square foot Monolithic Dome houses twelve classrooms and two science labs for the school’s 215 seventh and eighth graders. “It looks cool,” says student Ciera. “A lot of people see it and wonder what that thing is and I get to tell them it’s the junior high building!” … read more

Shalom Dome becomes a home

POSTED 30 May 2018 By Stewart Ulrich

After family lives in tornado-prone area of the United States, the move to a dome home has proven beneficial to their energy consumption and to their peace of mind. Feeling comfortable in their new space, family, friends, and strangers find their interest sparked by the new home. … read more

A mountaintop dome event center

POSTED 6 Apr 2018 By Stewart Ulrich

When the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma set out to build a new building at the Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center, a Monolithic Dome was not the first thought. In fact, it was practically an afterthought. But what it became was a Monolithic Dome conference center hosting thousands every year. … read more

A family legacy continues in Monolithic Dome store on Route 66

POSTED 4 Apr 2018 By Dyrinda Tyson

Children are generally the first to notice them, pointing up as they enter the Lincoln County Farm Center. “I think their perspective is magnified because they’re low,” said Mandy Myers, who runs the store with her mother, Nelda Matthews, and her sister, Mara Blackwell. “They immediately notice the ceiling. They’re the first to see the eagles.” … read more

Johnson Creek’s five-dome school was the product of planning and thought

POSTED 15 Mar 2017 By Stewart Ulrich

When the new Johnson Creek middle and high school opened in September 2016, its unique design generated a lot of attention. The school is comprised of five interconnected Monolithic Domes, the first of its kind in Wisconsin. Much planning and design went into this structure, as would be imagined for a project of its size and prominence. … read more

New Catoosa cafeteria dome provides shelter in tornado area

POSTED 23 Sep 2016 By Stewart Ulrich

A new Monolithic Dome now stands on the school grounds where a tornado came tearing through 23 years ago. Catoosa, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa, was the site of a F4 storm in 1993 that killed seven people and injured many more. Thanks to a new Monolithic Dome, people at the school can now feel safe from another such storm. … read more

The South Sawmill Lodge A Monolithic Family Project

The South Sawmill Lodge in Island Park, Idaho.

POSTED 22 Sep 2012 By Randy South

Randy South, Director of South Industries, and his family have decided to build a special, family reunion dome and name it South Sawmill Lodge. It’s located just a half-mile south of the sawmill site that Randy’s dad and granddad owned. … read more

Mile Hi Church and its ‘work of heart!’

POSTED 16 Feb 2009 By Freda Parker

“We’ve built a work of heart!” On its website that’s how Mile Hi Church in Lakewood, Colorado talks about its new sanctuary — a huge Monolithic Dome that called for an Airform of over 55,000 square feet. Opened in April 2008, the dome has a diameter of 233 feet, a height of 63 feet, a seating capacity of 1500, and a balcony that will eventually accommodate 600 more. … read more

Luxury Monolithic Dome home

POSTED 10 Nov 2008 By Freda Parker

A rare and exceptional Monolithic Dome home sits on nearly an acre of land, close to Cherry Creek State Park in Centennial, Colorado. Nearly 50 mature trees shade the dome and provide privacy. Designed for energy-efficiency and durability by Chris Barnes, a former aeronautical engineer who worked with Howard Hughes, the dome was built in 1982. … read more

The Gladiator Coliseum in Italy … Texas

POSTED 1 Mar 2002 By Freda Parker

Once the 2,000 residents of Italy, Texas, passed a $2 million bond for a multipurpose center, administrators began researching popular construction methods for school facilities. Superintendent Mike Clifton said, “Of course we were all familiar with the domes. We had a good overview. But we really had to see for ourselves, so we visited Thousand Oaks — a dome already operating — and we came away convinced.” … read more

The Pantheon — A temple to all gods

A panoramic image of the whole interior.

POSTED 21 Jun 2001 By Freda Parker

Michelangelo (1475–1564) looked at everything with an artist’s critical eye, and he was not easily impressed. But when Michelangelo first saw the Pantheon in the early 1500s, he proclaimed it of “angelic and not human design.” The Pantheon’s concrete dome inspired landmarks worldwide and is the spiritual ancestor to the modern Monolithic Dome. … read more

The unforgettable events and activities at Park University’s sports center

The double dome complex and main entrance.

POSTED 1 Jun 2001 By Freda Parker

“No one who attended the first graduation at our new Breckon Center will ever forget it,” said Rita Weighill of Park University. The new twin-dome sports facilities is a first-class sports venue added to the extensive underground campus at Parkville, Missouri. … read more

The Invisible Dome Home — Privacy, security and longevity, all under one roof

The great room and entryway of the underground house in Buffalo, Texas.

POSTED 21 Mar 2001 By Freda Parker

Visitors to Glenn Young’s Monolithic Dome home often have a problem finding his front door. That’s because Glenn and John St. Pé, co-owners of Dome Contractors, Inc., built Glenn’s Monolithic Dome home completely underground. “We’ve had people come out who didn’t know there was a house there and actually parked on top of it,” Glenn said. … read more

Xanadu — A dome in paradise

POSTED 21 Mar 2000 By Freda Parker

Xanadu — Samuel Taylor Coleridge coined that name for his imagined paradise in 1797. Some two hundred years later, Ivan and Judy Sheinbaum began creating their Xanadu — a Monolithic Dome tropical island resort on Ambergris Caye in the West Caribbean nation of Belize. … read more

Sports center for underground college

Rendering of twin Monolithic Dome sports complex.

POSTED 1 Jun 1999 By Freda Parker

Built among bluffs and wooded hills, Park College overlooks the Missouri River. That, in itself, is not unusual. But buildings constructed largely of limestone mined from below the campus is, and that’s just what Park College has at its home campus. … read more

Maranatha Church — A Dome Sanctuary

The main entrance to the Maranatha Church.

POSTED 21 Dec 1998 By Freda Parker

Pastor Ronnie Trice and his wife Sandy organized Maranatha Church in December 1973, initially to serve its local community of Mont Belvieu, Texas. But church membership increased rapidly, so they built a 208-foot diameter Monolithic Dome with room to seat 4,000. … read more

Building The Eye of the Storm

POSTED 1 Jan 1998 By Freda Parker

On a sunny morning in 1991, at a home site on Sullivans Island, South Carolina, George Paul, designer and builder of dome structures, anxiously watched an Airform inflating. Paul had watched many such inflations before — but never with this much anxiety. … read more