Freda Parker

Posted 22 Sep 2020 Home»

Freda Parker is a writer and long-time contributor to the Monolithic Dome Institute.

Authored

Historical Footage of Building the First Monolithic Dome with Excerpt from ‘Think Round’

By Freda Parker & David B. South Posted 20 Feb 2025

“…That was an ugly dome. There was no doubt about it. But to me, it was beautiful, sitting there, just off the side of the road in Shelley, Idaho. It meant that the Monolithic Dome was born.” —An excerpt from the autobiography of David B. South, “Think Round: The Story of David B. South and The Monolithic Dome.” … read more

Think Round: The Story of David B. South and The Monolithic Dome

By Freda Parker Updated 1 Dec 2023

Written by Freda Parker to whom David told his story, this book is absolutely chockful of photographs, so you can see as well as read about the people and events David describes. Those events are true-life experiences and fond memories, many funny and some sad. David recalls his grandparents and parents, their triumphs and tribulations and the lessons they taught him that ultimately helped shape the person he became. … read more

The Claddagh Dome—A Really Big Do-It-Yourself Project

By Freda Parker Posted 14 Sep 2012

After two years of getting-in-there-and-getting-your-hands-dirty work, in August 2008, Christine and Jim Spurgeon moved into their new dome home that they named Claddagh Dome. Located in Azle, Texas, a small town 14 miles northwest of Fort Worth, Claddagh Dome’s two stories and 2200 square feet include four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, kitchen, living room, playroom, loft and music room. … read more

Xanadu of Sedona Continues Attracting Attention

By Freda Parker Posted 29 Feb 2012

The Arizona Department of Transportation says that State Highway 179, leading into Sedona, “Carries millions of tourists each year through one of the most pristine and unique areas of the world.” Xanadu*, the home of Nina Joy and Bracken Cherry and their three daughters, is one point of interest those tourists are bound to see. … read more

An Important Revisit: Monolithic’s First Fertilizer Storage Plant

By David B. South & Freda Parker Posted 12 Jan 2012

Knowing that a Monolithic Dome would make an ideal fertilizer storage, in 1978 I sent information to a fertilizer magazine. They wrote an article, featuring the Monolithic Dome as a new product, and I received a call from Bill Matthews in Chandler, Oklahoma. Bill wanted a fertilizer storage dome on a site just off America’s famous highway—Route 66. … read more

At Home in ‘Sweet Dome Alabama’

Sweet Dome Alabama Near New Hope, Alabama.

By Freda Parker Posted 23 Aug 2011

Back when their children were just kids and Beverly and Kenneth Garcia took family vacations, they discovered beautiful New Hope, Alabama. “We were then living in Mississippi, but we fell in love with the New Hope area,” Bev said. “It’s gorgeous up here - the mountains and the lake and we like to fly fish.” Then and there Ken and Bev decided that when they retired, they would relocate to New Hope. … read more

Mile Hi Church and Its ‘Work of Heart!’

By Freda Parker Posted 16 Feb 2009

“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

By Freda Parker Posted 10 Nov 2008

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

Le Chateau de Lumiere: An Experiment in Beauty and Practicality

By Freda Parker Posted 18 Aug 2008

“A very satisfying experiment!” That’s how Rick Crandall describes the construction of his new Monolithic Dome called Le Chateau de Lumiere or Castle of Light. “The purpose of this project was to do things that had not yet been done in other domes.” … read more

Dr. Arnold Wilson: A Pioneer Heads for Retirement

By Freda Parker Posted 28 Dec 2007

Referring to his 40-year teaching career as a Professor of Civil Engineering at Brigham Young University (BYU) and his more than 30 years as Monolithic’s Senior Consulting Engineer, Dr. Arnold Wilson said, “It’s just been a wonderful trip for me. It’s been exciting. I have done things that I had never even dreamed that I would do.” … read more

Raising and Razing Ream's Turtle

By Freda Parker Posted 21 Apr 2006

“It was a very good building for a very long time—but that’s progress, I guess,” said Dr. Arnold Wilson about the February 11, 2006 razing of a historic, thin shell concrete dome in Provo, Utah. … read more

Hurricane Ivan and the Magenheimer’s Search

Inflated 3/4 spherical Airform membrane.

By Freda Parker Posted 27 Feb 2006

Bill Magenheimer’s search for a better home after Hurricane Ivan destroyed his home led to building a Monolithic Dome home on a Florida beach. … read more

Church Members Call Hurricane Rita ‘eerie’

By Freda Parker Posted 25 Sep 2005

As millions of people attempted to evacuate the Houston area, I-45 became completely clogged. Northbound traffic moved at speeds between one-half to one mile per hour. Because of this, about a dozen members of Maranatha decided to stay in their Monolithic Dome church during Hurricane Rita. … read more

All in the Family: Expansive Yumadome Makes Room for Everyone

By Freda Parker Posted 6 Feb 2003

When Mark Henrikson’s family decided to build a multigenerational home in the desert of Yuma, Arizona, Henrikson and his wife presented the idea of a Monolithic Dome for their new beginning. The whole family got involved in designing the 11,500-square-foot house, which features eight individual living suites. … read more

New Monolithic Dome Multipurpose Center at Avalon

An orange ribbon across the front of the new Avalon Multipurpose Center.

By Freda Parker Posted 21 Nov 2002

While the population count of Avalon, Texas may be in doubt and small, its pride and interest in their school is not. Most recent proof of that is Avalon’s new Multipurpose Center, for its 250 students in pre-kindergarten to Grade 12. Designed by Monolithic Architect Rick Crandall and built with a 12’ stemwall, this Monolithic Dome measures 124’ x 25’ with a total height of 37 feet. … read more

Burning Legacy: How Vista Dhome Defied an Inferno

By Freda Parker Posted 15 Sep 2002

What should have been a quiet, ordinary Sunday afternoon for Ruth and Al Braswell wasn’t. Temps that dry and fateful day reached above the 100-degree mark—the perfect conditions for a California brush fire. The Bryant Fire of August 11, 2002, spread rapidly and ferociously. Within a short time, the flames reached the surrounding wall and outlying buildings at the Braswell estate. … read more

Monolithic Domes Attract Newcomers at Living Word Bible Church

By Freda Parker Posted 5 Aug 2002

When Living Word Bible Church in Mesa, Arizona opened its new Monolithic Domes a little more than a year ago, thousands came. They filled the church’s 2000-seat sanctuary and overflowed its 860-space parking lot. … read more

The Gladiator Coliseum in Italy … Texas

By Freda Parker Posted 1 Mar 2002

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

Panorama of Vistors Beneath the Pantheon Dome.

By Freda Parker Posted 21 Jun 2001

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.

By Freda Parker Posted 1 Jun 2001

“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

Below Grade? Understanding the Ups and Downs of Building Underground

By Freda Parker Posted 21 Mar 2001

Has the idea of living in an underground home tempted you? If so, you’re part of a growing minority. More and more people, worldwide, have already or plan to build an earth-sheltered or earth-bermed home. Earth-sheltered homes usually have their tops and sides completely covered with earth, while earth-bermed homes usually have an exposed side and roof. … 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.

By Freda Parker Posted 21 Mar 2001

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

Hurricane Keith Huffed and Puffed and …

By Freda Parker Posted 21 Dec 2000

Like the wolf of Three-Little-Pigs fame, Hurricane Keith huffed and puffed and literally blew homes down, but unlike our fairy tale wolf, Keith didn’t stop there. From Friday, September 29 to Sunday, October 1, 2000, Keith—a force 4 hurricane with winds up to 135 mph—raged over Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize in the Caribbean Sea. With the ease of a giant weeding his garden, Keith uprooted trees, flattened buildings, overturned aircraft, and jettisoned boats onto rocks. Meanwhile, the severe, three-day rains Keith brought with him caused floods and mudslides, swept jetties away, and downed power lines. … read more

“Marilee,” She Comes Around

Flower pots on the back patio of Shamrock Chateau.

By Freda Parker & Kris Garrison Posted 1 Oct 2000

“Whoever built that ought to be shot!” So said Marilee Byrne the first time she saw a Monolithic Dome. Now, nearly twenty years later, Marilee often recalls that story as she welcomes visitors to her spacious dome home in Italy, Texas, designed by Larry Byrne, Marilee’s husband and MDI’s vice president of marketing and design. The interior of this Monolithic Dome dream home consists of 2660 square feet in three domes, with diameters of 30, 40 and 32 feet. … read more

Genesis of Vista Dhome: From Dome Workshop to Dream Home

By Freda Parker Posted 1 Apr 2000

One of the things that Dr. and Mrs. Al Braswell like best about their Monolithic Dome home in Yucaipa, California, is all the fun they had—and continue having—designing it. Braswell says, “I don’t think we will ever be really finished with our dome. We’re in it, so in a sense, it is finished, but we keep coming up with more ideas and things we want to add. We just have so much fun doing it.” … read more

Xanadu: A Dome in Paradise

By Freda Parker Posted 21 Mar 2000

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.

By Freda Parker Posted 1 Jun 1999

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.

By Freda Parker Posted 21 Dec 1998

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

Dr. Arnold Wilson and Domes: Past, Present and Future

By Freda Parker Posted 21 Sep 1998

Dr. Arnold Wilson doesn’t credit human ingenuity for the invention of a dome—he credits the egg. Wilson, who retired after completing a 40-year career as Civil Engineering Professor at Brigham Young University, says, “The egg has always fascinated me. You can see that it’s the shape and structure of the shell that gives it its strength. Much the same is true for a dome, and I think we borrowed from nature when we began building domes.” … read more

Building the ‘Eye of the Storm’

By Freda Parker Posted 1 Jan 1998

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

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