Bizarre ‘dome house’ in California hits the market for $2.1million

A bizarre home located in the middle of the Joshua Tree desert and designed using principles intended for lunar habitation just hit the market for $2.1million.

The California home, known as Bonita Domes, bears a stronger resemblance to a the rock outcroppings that dot the legendary desert than the kinds of multi-million dollar homes typical of California.

Completed in 2014, the house was built over seven years by a spiritual healer named Lisa Starr, who drew on concepts from an Iranian-American architect, Nader Khalili, who was commissioned by NASA to design dome-based structures for celestial habitation.

At 1,339-square-feet, the house has five bedrooms and a cocktail bar, and there is a bathhouse, a pool, and a meditation temple, on the property.

The house is also available to rent on Airbnb for $780 per night.

Known as Bonita Domes, the 1,339-square-feet home has five bedrooms

The house was completed in 2014 following seven years of construction

The whacky home is located just a five minute walk to an entrance into Joshua Tree National Park.

It was built using a construction method called SuperAdobe, which Khalili helped to pioneer as a sustainable and durable method of low-cost construction.

The process consists of building a frame out of coiled wire, around which and within layers of sandbags filled with wetted earth are placed and filled.

‘All the structures were built using minimal resources, materials, and supplies that are easily accessible and 85% of materials used to build the structures were from excavated earth here on site,’ Starr wrote on her website. ‘The long continuous sandbags were filled with a coffee can at a time.’

The house is being listed by Coldwell Banker Realty. Listing agent James Bianco described how Khalili helped develop the method, and also called on its practice of using domes for support to built structures intended for space.

‘He was assigned in the mid-80s by NASA to design for lunar and space habitation, so the result was a shelter using the most stable of all the architectural elements — the arch, or dome — and he also found local materials that would insulate and protect,’ Bianco said, according to Business Insider.

One of the five bedrooms inside the Bonita Domes home in California

See also  NYC bike path terrorist escapes the death penalty due to split jury

One of the living room domes inside the unique home in Joshua Tree

The kitchen inside the Bonita Domes house. There is also an eating nook attached

A bathtub built into the wall of one of the bathrooms in the bizarre house

The entryway in the Bonita Domes home located in Joshua Tree, California

Inside the home, windows are kept small to keep out the punishing desert sun by day.

Shelves and bathtubs are integrated into the walls of the rooms. Each bedroom comes with its own full bathroom and shower.

There are two ‘social domes’ in the house, along with a full kitchen and eating area.

The house is accessible by rugged desert roads.

Bonita Domes is currently the third most expensive home listed in the Joshua Tree area, according to Business Insider. 

Prices on the 181 homes listed in the area currently range from $119,999 up to $18 million, and have a media price of $440,000.

The property comes complete with a pool as part of its outdoor landscaping

A lounge space where residents can find shade outdoors in the desert sun

The meditation temple can be seen on the property of the bizarre house 

The Bonita Domes home lit up in the Joshua Tree night