While the house has sold, we still want to talk about this beautiful dome home because it’s unique, plus it’s the residence of retired Monolithic Dome designer Larry Byrne and his wonderful wife, Marilee. They designed and constructed a genuinely unique Monolithic Dome home, and we want to give it — and them — a proper sendoff.

The Shamrock Chateau is a Monolithic Dome home in Italy, Texas at the Monolithic Dome Research Park. The house was constructed in 1999 for Larry and Marilee Byrne — Larry was the chief designer at Monolithic from 1983 to 2016. They named the home Shamrock Chateau in honor of Larry’s Irish and French/Italian ancestry.

A workshop attendee shows what it means to be hands-on at a Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop. It’s more than a class; it’s an experience. Come get your hands dirty this April and join other dome enthusiasts in Dawson, Texas, building a real Monolithic Dome. Save $500 with the Early Bird Discount by signing up before Tuesday, March 21, 2023.

The Airform for Maggie Chu’s new Monolithic Dome home on the east coast of central Florida went off without a hitch and was cause for celebration. This now completed dome features beautiful ¾ circle extended augments over the front and back door and elliptically topped extended augments for the windows.

Today we highlight the Teshima Art Museum in Japan—a beautiful concrete thin-shell structure that “resembles a water droplet at the moment of landing.” The white freeform shell is about 40 by 60 meters (131′ × 196′) with a maximum height of 4.3 meters (14′) and appears to rise from the surrounding fields. “Two oval openings in the shell allow wind, sounds, and light of the world outside into this organic space where nature and architecture intimately interconnect.” Photo by Denis Kovalev on Unsplash