Well here it is fellow Hivers. The first post in a series of indeterminate length focused on the building of my off grid dome home.
It's been a long process, and it started in late 2022 when I made a phonecall.
I had noticed a "lots available call ×××-××××" sign posted up on a bank, just past a blue stone driveway hidden between a couple of rocky outcrops and massive maple trees on one of the main roads into my small town.
No one answered so I left a voicemail.
No one called me back.
I saw that damn sign every day.
I called again.
I pulled off on the driveway one morning on my way to work and found it wound between the slate outcrops, with those massive and ancient maple trees towering above, and extended parallel to the road before opening out into a large field. The field was almost flat, but the road off to the side had plunged down between cliffs on the final approach to town.
I was above it all.
My interest was instantly increased. This is a busy road, but with the property rising above it along its entire frontage it changed my perception of it. With a partially complete drive, and a flat(ish) partially cleared space to build in it appeared to be a hidden gem.
I wondered why it wasn't listed anywhere.
I called and left another message, and poked around on the land a couple more times.
I finally got a call back from the owner, met with him, and got my hands on an ancient survey map. I got his permission to walk there whenever I wanted. I asked for any permits or other documentation he already had for the property, and started digging into the town land records.
I spent my time after work walking along where I believed the boundary lines to be. The owner had no idea where the pins were, and the survey from 1990 only gave me a rough idea of the shape (you'll notice all of the squiggly lines on the map at the start of the post, they show some of my efforts stumbling around searching) It took several weeks, trips to the town archives to cross reference the surveys of the neighboring parcels, and finally getting my hands on some additional documentation from the company that did the original septic system design from before it was subdivided.
But I found them. Each marker on the map is a pin I successfully located. In doing so I uncovered some potential issues. There were different surveys and subdivisions over time. This land had been in that family for several generations and divided upon inheritance, there were plans for further subdivision that were cancelled, then a different subdivision plan made that was also cancelled. There was a question of whether my survey matched the actual boundaries of the adjacent properties, and whether everything had been recorded correctly. I called my real estate attorney who was amazing and sorted through records dating back to the 1800s to establish the owner actually owned the land and that I would be getting what was displayed on the survey.
Eventually we figured it out. The weirdness started when the state built the road my property borders. Prior deeds and descriptions incorporated it into the larger parcel, and apparently the previous town clerk may have been a little lax with entering his documents correctly. My lawyer assured me things were above board. The deed and title were clear. I made an offer and it was accepted. I bought the land outright.
I already knew I wanted to build an unconventional home. Before my daughter was born I had wanted to build a Cobb and strawbale house, but it would be difficult to build a structure large enough for me to feel we had enough space for her to thrive. So I had been researching other options ever since I divorced.
A tiny house wouldn't work.
A conventional house would be too expensive.
A modular home wouldn't be much cheaper.
A shipping container?
A Yurt?
A log cabin?
An RV?
A trailer?
I researched all of these and more thoroughly.
I landed on a geodesic dome as a way to quickly get a wearhertight structure, a way to get maximum square footage for minimal cost, and a way for me to do all of the work. There were two companies that interested me that sold frame systems and covers. Ekodome out of Turkey sells frames with triangular cover panels, and Pacific Domes in Oregon sells frames with a single piece cover.
I contacted both companies and found Ekodome would cost nearly twice as much to get a single dome. I still nearly opted for them due to the solid panels vs single piece cover. It ended up coming down to a sale. Pacific Domes ran a crazy good sale for Memorial Day, and I ended up being able to get a second, larger dome while still paying half the price of a single Ekodome kit. 🙃
These are the overheads for the two domes. The larger one is 30ft(9m) in diameter, or approximately 700 square feet, the other is 24ft(7m) in diameter, or 420 square feet.
I ordered my two kits, which needed about 8-10 weeks of lead time, and set about clearing the location the Domes would go. I also began rough sketches and designs of how I would configure things, and submitted a building permit to the town. Thankfully the build permit was far easier than the design.
I drew two circles on a closeup of my survey map and wrote a brief description of my project. It was quickly approved and I was ready to go! Hooray for small town permitting processes.
I'll skip over the process of clearing the build site as I have posted about those steps previously. I wanted this post to give somewhat of a background and steps leading up to the purchase of the property and beginning to build. In my next I will cover some of my design choices and building of the platform I placed one of the Domes on.
I'll also be creating a collection for all of the posts related to this project so stay tuned for that.
I'm happy to answer any and all questions as I continue to write these posts up, and would love feedback or suggestions about what people want to see from this post series. Let me know!
Dibbs
