Iron Mountain Dome: An Owner-Built Monolithic Dome Home in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Iron Mountain Dome in Mountain City, Tennessee, is a 1950-square-foot Monolithic Dome home designed by the owners, Kevin McGuckin and Hannah Mallon. The house features a hand-fitted, stone-clad exterior and rests on nine acres of land in the Blue Ridge Mountains at the edge of the Cherokee National Forest.

The 40-foot (12.2 m) diameter dome is 22 feet (6.7 m) high, a half sphere on a two-foot (0.6 m) stemwall. The 1150-square-foot (107 m²) main floor includes a south-facing kitchen with a custom tile backsplash, the living room, a bedroom, a bathroom, an office, a laundry room, and a beautiful wooden curved staircase to the loft. Upstairs, the primary bedroom suite is 800 square feet (74 m²).

The property includes a separate 700-square-foot (65 m²) guest house and a garage. The landscaping includes foundation planting and a retaining wall with an extensive flower garden on top. Iron Mountain Dome is located 15 miles (24km) from Watauga Lake, which lies on the Appalachian Trail.

The home is flooded with natural light from seven custom-made casement windows. The upstairs has a warm wood floor while the downstairs flooring is Saltillo tile. The smooth plaster walls are Mediterranean white.

This Monolithic Dome home includes an efficient hydronic heating system powered by wood. A boiler in the garage heats water that circulates through under-floor radiant pipes, providing steady warmth throughout the house. For milder seasons, a standard heat pump serves as a backup.