Americans are building natural-disaster-proof homes shaped like domes that cost roughly the same as the average US house
By Katie Hawkinson,
2023-07-16
Natural-disaster-proof dome homes can cost $350,000. The average US house is valued at $330,000.
The domes are designed to resist extreme weather, which displaced 3.3 million Americans last year.
They use fire-proof materials, and their shape helps them to withstand extreme wind, architects say.
Extreme weather driven by the climate crisis forced 3.3 million Americans out of their homes last year. So some are seeking a new type of house designed specifically to withstand the consequences of a warming Earth: geodesic domes.
And — surprisingly enough — the unique buildings cost about as much as your typical American home.
The total construction costs for these eccentric, newly-popular homes range from about $350,000 to $450,000 if built in rural areas, The New York Times reported . That's just $20,000 shy of the average value of a standard US home, which comes in at $330,000, The Guardian reported in May . However, construction costs can reach closer to $600,000 in urban areas.
Dennis Odin Johnson, the owner of the Minnesota dome-home company Natural Spaces Homes, told the Times that his clients often weren't particularly wealthy and instead came to his company out of concern for the threats extreme weather poses.
"They want something that's going to last," Johnston told the outlet.
Johnson told the Times that he expected to sell 40 dome homes by the end of the year to double his company's sales from last year.
These homes are particularly adept at withstanding events like flooding and hurricanes, architects told the Times. The homes are often built out of fire-resistant materials like steel, and the dome shape provides resistance against extreme winds that standard square homes do not. Many also have solar panels and backup generators in case of a power outage.
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