Dome News, Summer 2001 - Castle of Light

This has double meaning for Architect Rick Crandall and his wife Melody of Mesa, Arizona. Melody chose the title because of the 450-square-foot, glass block conventional structure adjoining the two main domes. Rick, on the other hand, interprets light to mean knowledge. The entire dome building experience has been an increase in knowledge for both of them.

Rick describes his dome home building experience as an experiment with goals. He explains, "We had three goals in mind when we began our dome home:

To break the aesthetics barrier of Monolithic Domes
To experiment with various building means and methods
To experiment with budget limitations."

Rick said, "One of the main things we wanted to discover during the building process was the actual cost and efficiency that building a home such as ours would require if we were to mass produce it."

"We aren't just building a dome home, we are testing means and methods. There have been several times, after experimenting with certain finishes we realized it wasn't what we wanted so we started over," Rick said. The Crandall home consists of two 23' diameter domes with 25' high vertically-airformed walls -- offering a total of 1900 square feet of living space.

Crandall's home is being constructed by Robert Johnson of Stetson Construction. Rick reports that Robert has been meticulous with details and is doing a professional job. As of August 2001, construction is 60% complete which brings them to the interior framing stage. Visit our website often for further details and photos of this beautiful Monolithic Dome home.

For more information about Rick Crandall, click here!

177 Dome Park Place - Italy, TX 76651
Tel (972)483-7423 - Fax (972)483-6662
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