The World Is Mental, So Why Not Live in a Dome in Tasmania?

I, for one, wouldn't mind the retreat

February 10, 2017 9:00 am

How do you know you’re in the home of an artist? Look around. Are there an abundance of primary colors and geometric shapes? Are the doors fashioned from vintage school bus parts? Is the house a giant dome in Tasmania?

So is the case with this dome house by artist couple Penny and John Smith, who together designed and made it in 1974 and had what was probably an adventurous life tinkering on it.

Dome House (5 images)

It’s worth taking a peek inside for just how much they did in so little space. It has three bedrooms and approximately a jillion skylights, and it appears “futuristic” in that it looks like what people guessed the future may look like a long time ago. One can’t help but wonder what the dome could’ve been had they built it 10 years later. 

(5 images)

To this writer, a dome home says more “chill vacation house for a week in the summer” and less “place you live year-round.” But for what it’s worth, this dome is also a strange, off-kilter expression of love that you don’t see every day, so there’s that. It’s also well on its way to being a permaculture compound, if that’s your thing: there’s a greenhouse (also a dome), a shed (dome), and our favorite — a workshop/studio (not a dome).

If you are considering making the lifestyle choice to become a dome-dweller, you might be bummed to find that this one just sold at auction, but these guys make prefab domes.

They’ll probably ship to you, and you won’t have to move to Tasmania.

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