Underground Dome Homes

Underground dome homes combine unique design, energy savings and security. The geodesic dome was invented in 1947 by Richard Buckminster Fuller. Since that time, the aboveground dome home has dotted the landscape with enthusiasts worldwide.

Underground Dome Home

But, there are also a few pioneers who like living on the edge of alternative lifestyles and architectural styles who not only like living on the edge but underneath it. This is where underground dome homes fit in.

There are four underground dome homes I'd like to talk about here including ones owned by Bill Lishman (pictured above), Glenn Young, Fritz Eisenhofer and a Hobbit home in Tennessee. Bill Lishman's underground dome home, located in Blackstock, Ontario, Canada is actually a series of interconnected domes popping up like pimples on the landscape, more akin to gopher holes (packed with dirt around protruding cones) than other subsurface structures.

Lishman was featured in the movie "Fly Away Home" starring Jeff Daniels and the moviemakers thought the real underground dome home was too weird and dramatic so it wasn't even used in the film. Lishman is an artist, environmentalist, ultralight aircraft enthusiast and inventor.

Glenn Young along with his partner John St. Pe built the Monolithic Dome home underground several years back (pictured right).

It is a 3,000 square foot dwelling that is made up of five interconnected Ecoshells. This underground dome home is located on a 40-acre plot in Buffalo, Texas.

Being underground this particular dome home has no windows. So, Young compensated by hiring Houston artist James Perez to paint different murals in each dome so every room has a different ecosystem on the walls.

The Fritz Eisenhofer underground dome home in New Zealand is actually five cement domes interconnected 12-feet below the surface (pictured right).

This dome home actually has one huge south-facing window peaking out from beneath the Earth surface catching the sunlight.

Fans inside the home spread the heat to other parts of the underground dome system. Unlike other underground dome homes (or many other odd houses) this one actually has an indoor swimming pool.

The Hobbit home in Tennessee is more of an earth-bermed dome home than it is underground as the face of the domes are not compacted with earth (pictured left).

The owners are J. R. R. Tolkein and wanted their house to be like Bilbo Baggins' Hobbit hole, so that is what they hired their contractor to build.

The underground dome homes listed share many features that will appeal to environmentalists and other who like odd architecture. The domes are structurally sound, keep out noise, save energy, are sheltered from the elements and burglars plus they make for wonderful conversation pieces.