WOMAN Moves to the Desert to Build DOMES

Linsey Anderson is taking on a project that could alter the way to perceive conventional living spaces. It’s a residency project that she’s calling Wonder Domes, and it’s a fantastic example of what can be achieved on a limited budget with natural materials and good engineering.

The goal for Wonder Domes is to create a space for artists to come and retreat. As with any great endeavor, the beginnings are humble. At the time we were able to visit Lindsey on the site of the project, she was just in the beginning stages of building the very first dome, a structure not much bigger than a shed, allowing it to be legally constructed without needing a permit. But for her, this is only the beginning:

“Ultimately, I'd like to have nine to twelve studio workspaces. Three small studio homes that are larger homes and a performance space for people traveling to come and enjoy and also primarily for the community to want to build a place where there's lots of different kinds of facilities. Music studio, animation, building, costume, a different dome for each so whether you're a writer or filmmaker, you could come out here for a period of time and have a space tour and I'd like to have rental opportunities, but also work trade opportunities.”

She’s building these domes using Super Adobe. It’s a popular building method as it isn’t only inexpensive, but also a relatively simple process. You dig a hole, compass the hole, and take long polyethylene bags, the sort of bags that beans and rice are shipped in which are very affordable. You take earth from the land and mix it with water and some sort of stabilizer. Some use cement, but for Linsey’s dome she’s using lime. Polyethylene bags filled with this mixture are placed in layers to form the walls and then compressed, with barbed wire between each layer to hold them in place. “You plaster over it and you have the world's strongest, the most earthquake, fire, flood resistant structure in the world.”

This first dome that Linsey built cost roughly $350 dollars to complete. According to her, one could realistically complete and furnish a living space the size of a small studio complete with plumbing and hookups in the ballpark of $5000. “We are so programmed to think that living in a house looks a certain way and hearing that something could be that easy is hard for us to really wrap our minds around and so people just don't do it, but more people are doing it.”

It’s really a great way to get a roof over your head when the budget is limited, but the tradeoff is that building this way can be an energy intensive and time consuming process. While building Wonder Domes, Lindsey stays in an old Winnebago that she affectionately calls “Winnie”. She’s modified it slightly, with painted details, and a bathroom that she converted into a closet. Since she has a composting toilet outhouse on the property, this ended up being a better use of space. The original range in the camper doesn’t work, so she makes do with a camp stove. She ended up taking out a bunch of the van’s stock seats to make room for another bed platform that is more comfortable than what originally came with the camper.

Along with the camper, she also uses a building that was already on the property as a shaded sitting area. “After World War II these plots were given away to anyone who would commit to building structures on them so a lot of people did and then couldn't take the really hard summer so a lot of them wound up just being abandoned. So this is one of those structures.”

Her advice to anyone wanting to do something similar? Follow your excitement. Think about the world that you want to live in, and see how you can make it possible doing what you love most. “If everyone follows what their true excitement is there's enough for everyone, there's an abundance for everyone, and it will lead you in the right direction, no question… Don't be afraid. Or be afraid and do it anyway. Fear is just a sign that you're coming up against a change. If it's a big change there's probably big fear. Just sit with yourself and give yourself all the love that you would give to a child. Things will work out.”

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