Rare million-dollar dome house finally sold — after three years on the market

PALM HARBOR — One of the few geodesic dome houses in Tampa Bay has sold after three years on the market. The house, on Crystal Beach in Palm Harbor, sold for $1.06 million.

Geodesic dome homes are spherical buildings specially created and uniquely designed to be energy efficient.

The Buckminster Fuller Institute in San Francisco says the “structure of a dome is one of the most efficient interior atmospheres for human dwellings because air and energy are allowed to circulate without obstruction. “This enables heating and cooling to occur naturally. Geodesic shelters have been built all around the world in different climates and temperatures and still they have proven to be the most efficient human shelter one can find.”

R. Buckminster Fuller was an American inventor and theorist who is credited with patenting and popularizing the design. According to the library at Stanford University, Fuller lived in a dome home from 1959 to 1970 while a research professor at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

The Crystal Beach geodesic dome home has three bedrooms and two baths, an eight car garage and a custom front door featuring English stained glass dating back to the 1800s, according to the Belair real estate brokerage that sold it, Engel & Völkers. 

The 2,954-square-foot home sits on Point Seaside Drive and has over 110 feet of water views. It was built in 1988 by Oregon Dome.

The home was first put on the market in in February 2018 and three different agencies tried to sell it, according Engel & Völkers. It was placed on the market four times and eventually sold by realtor Kristin Hallamek.