Esoteric Survey

The Paolo Soleri and Mark Mills, Dome House (1949), in Cave Creek, Arizona is for sale.    The house is listed at only $300,000!  The photos on  Realtor.com  were actually just lifted off a post I did in  2012 .  At that point I was only able to see it from a distance. They could have at least used the ones from when I was there in  2017 . They're better and include interior shots... It's an amazing piece of architecture, but it was designed by two young architects at the beginning of their careers using experimental materials. One big issue is the dome was originally designed to slide open and there was a shield to protect the interior from the blaring sun. That functionality is long gone, which makes for a torturous summer under the dome.  Image: Julius Shulman,   © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10) Image: Julius Shulman,   © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Resea...

The Dome House, 1949, in Cave Creek Arizona, by Paolo Soleri and Mark Mills. Both were former apprentices under   Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West.   The house was commissioned by Lenora Woods, who would soon become Paolo's mother-in-law. I've been near the house in the past . However, this time I wasn't just snooping.  Docomomo hosted a tour, which was led by Director of Paolo Soleri Studios, Roger Tomalty. Source:  Julius Shulman © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute The ribs of the dome were constructed with war surplus  materials . Source:  Paolo Soleri at Dome House Source:  Soleri: Architecture as Human Ecology by  Antonietta Iolanda Lima The initial design had an opaque section that was manually rotated for shade. At some point the rotating mechanism broke, so the top has been modified to shield the sun. The cooler was added and now doesn't function. It would be great to see it removed....