He Built This Tiny Dome Home For Just $6000

Building a Unique Dome Home

Musician, photographer, English teacher and now architect and designer? Steve Areen along with friends Hajjar and Tao built this tiny Thai dome home for just $6,000. Constructed from cement blocks and clay bricks, this lovely home with it all its soft curves and round domes is warm, inviting and intriguing. Built in the midst of a lush organic mango farm in northeast Thailand, he built this tiny Thai dome home for just $6,000, in only six weeks. The process was fast and affordable which resulted in a beautiful, durable and funky home. The main dome hosts the main living space including a tiny but functional kitchen. A large window allows the water from the lotus pond to reflect, shimmer and dance across the interior walls. The jungle-themed bathroom has many unique and creative features such as a sink built from local pottery and a really cool waterfall faucet!

Creative Interior Design

Steve's clever use of baskets, bead necklaces, bamboo mats and river rock adorns the eco home. You will find lots of terrific, unique and inspiring interior decorating and designs ideas that will resonate with those who are frugal, creative and do it yourself kind of people. Rounded window seats make a cozy place to read a book, gaze at the gorgeous view or strum a few cords on the guitar. Rest, relax and dream the day away in the rooftop gazebo, complete with its own grass roof. Building this tiny Thai dome home for just $6,000 had some challenges. Having curved walls makes building shelves a bit difficult. Steve met this challenge with great success, and there are lots of places to store and display his treasures. Using reclaimed hardwood, he fashioned stairs climbing up to the gazebo. A gorgeous reclaimed mahogany door flanked with diamond side lights welcomes visitors. There are so many cool and fascinating things to see inside this home.

The Inspiration Behind the Build

It all started when Steve was visiting his good friend Hajjar and his wife in Thailand, and one day they offered him a plot on their gorgeous mango farm where he could build his own dome home which was an idea they had been discussing at length, previously. Steve took them up on it, and got to work, but not without Hajjar's expert advice to help him along the way. He also enlisted the expertise of Tao, Hajjar's son-in-law, who just happened to be an amazing mason. With Hajjar's resourceful input and Taos' masonry skills, combined with Steve's original vision, they were able to construct this gorgeous terracotta dome home in only six weeks. Not only did they build it, but they also painted, decorated, and landscaped it within that time frame too.

Cost and Future Plans

With all of the building materials coming from within Thailand, the structure only cost $6,000 to build. All of the finishing touches like a loft area, doors, stonework, and landscaping added up to an additional $3,000, bringing the grand total to a mere $9,000. Steve was so happy with the result that he plans to build more dome homes in the future. For this one, he used cement and clay blocks, but next time he would prefer to try compressed earth blocks because they're even more natural. He's also looking for the best organic insulation options as he would love to try building these domes in colder climes. We're excited to see what Steve and his team dream up next.