Vacation Dome House By Steve Areen, Thailand

In 2011 Steve Areen visited with his friend Hajjar Gibran. For years he has inspired Steve with his creative ideas. Hajjar was building domes at his retreat center in northeast Thailand. He and his wife offered Steve a spot on their mango farm to build his own dome.
With Hajjar's guidance and design ideas, and Steve's son-in-law Tao's masonry skills, Steve created his own dome and painted in six weeks. The cost for the basic structure was under $6000. It took a few more weeks to add the details, such as doors, screens, pond, upstairs structure, stonework and landscaping. All this, including furnishings, was under $3000, bringing total cost to about $9,000.
As much as Steve loves his dome home, he probably would not have built it if it was a long process. The low cost and time-efficiency of using blocks is what enticed him into building.