| Mt. Mitchell Woods Dome Community |
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BEING BUILT NEAR
- NORTH CAROLINA DOME COMMUNITY NEWS - 8 Residential Lots Are Available! The dome development is four miles west off the Blue Ridge parkway, along Highway 80 in North Carolina, just East of Mt. Mitchell. The address is 10407 Highway 80 South and is located between the small towns of Burnsville and Marion. At last, a planned dome community where property taxes are low and residents live free from fears of high utility bills. People live in harmony with each other, the land, deer, wild turkeys, chipmunks, birds, and many other forest animals nestled in nature. The community is nestled over 100 acres of pristine, forested mountains full of oaks, hemlocks, rhododendrons, and mountain laurels with seasonal streams. All this located within one hour of Asheville, where farmers’ markets and outdoor cafes abound. Climate: From early April to mid November our climate is just about ideal. Normal summertime morning temperatures range between 55 and 60 degrees. Daytime temperatures hover around 80. Our spring and fall weather requires a sweater till mid morning. This mild climate produces blooming wild flowers from March to November. It has been said that this is where springtime spends the summer. Shopping: Activities: About two miles from the community entrance is Mount Mitchell Golf Course. In addition to the 18 hole golf course (rated four and one half stars {out of five} by Golf Digest Magazine), the fisherman will be delighted with the South Toe River that runs along Highway 80. It is brimming with trophy native brown and rainbow trout. To purchase a fishing permit, call B&B Grocery at 1-828-675-4949. Trail hiking, tennis, gemstone mining and excellent summer stock theatre offers a variety of "things to do." Click on Golf Course to learn more. Click on Fishing to learn about the Carolina Hemlock Recreational area.
The development was slow getting started. However, we now have some of the roads installed. The entrance road travels along a spring fed creek up to the residential area. The first row of lots faces the South West and has a great view of the Mt. Mitchell area. Electric is now available to all the lots and the first two domes are under construction. Undeveloped lots are now available for those that wish to build their own custom design dome. A 45' dome with a full basement is under construction. To experience dome living, we have a rental dome 3 miles away. To learn about this dome, click on Dome Cabin Rental. Common recreation areas within the community will be designed to include nature trails, picnic tables, and spring fed creeks within the majestic trees. A short distance away is a golf course, trout fishing on the South Toe River within the Carolina Hemlock National Park and a camp ground. Hiking trails and water falls along the Blue Ridge parkway are only five miles from the community. The community will be restricted to preserve the natural environment. Lot sizes will be a minimum of 1.5 acres to a maximum of 5 acres. Environmental protections within the community will protect the natural flora and fauna. There are eight available lots at this time, ranging from 1.5 to 2 acres. These lots are at an introductory rate of $24,000 per acre. Call us at (321) 639-8777 if you would like to have the combination to open the entrance gate, an area map, map of the existing community roads, and the lots available today. The only sign marking the community is a small white sign mounted high on a tree at the driveway entrance with the number 10407. The address is 10407 Highway 80 South, Burnsville North Carolina 28714. About one half way up the driveway, you will see stacks of panels. To view the exterior of the 45' dome under construction, continue on up the driveway, cross over the spring and at the top of the hill turn left into the 45' dome's drive. The following is a January 2007 email that American Ingenuity received from Irene Purser in reference to the dome community: Dear Glenda,
Thank you for e-mailing me the directions to your mountain property in North Carolina. The directions were excellent.
Your property is beautiful. I grew up in Asheville, NC and I can say with certainty that your property is located in one of the most picturesque areas in the mountains of North Carolina. I divided my time between exploring some of the old logging roads, enjoying the vistas and marveling at the abundant slate, quartzite and mica. (A geologist could spend weeks there!)
Real estate in the mountains is in great demand and you were blessed to find this treasure.
Your vision of a dome community on this property will not only provide the prototype for other communities, it will also be an inspiration.
Please allow me to share my brief involvement with geodesic domes and why I am excited about your vision of a dome community.
I have long been a student of Buckminster Fuller, excited about the possibilities for geodesic domes and committed to working for a sustainable future. In the early ‘80’s, I attended a symposium created by Buckminster Fuller, John Denver and Tom Crum in Windstar, Colorado. Windstar was a non-profit research and educational center founded by John Denver and Tom Crum in 1976 that was committed to creating a sustainable future. The symposium focused on Bucky’s philosophy of “doing more with less” and featured Windstar’s Biodome Project. The purpose of the “Biodome Project” was to design and construct integrated fish and vegetable producing micro climate systems, in a range of sizes, that could be transferable to a variety of climates and utilized in rural or urban settings. The essence of the Biodome Project was to demonstrate practical, local, organic methods of producing food through stand alone, self-sustaining, affordable systems that conserved water, land and energy. The Biodome concept was a much needed model for an agricultural system that embraced sensible food production from the small backyard plot to large scale farming. With the death of Buckminster Fuller and later John Denver, Phases III and IV of the Biodome Project were not completed and the Biodome Kits were not patented, manufactured or marketed.
While exploring “green technologies” on the internet, I came across a site that mentioned an award given to AI Domes for energy efficiency. That is how I discovered your website and your remarkable domes. I am excited about your dome community because it will provide a prototype - or vision - of a better way to live that will contribute to a sustainable future.
HOW TO GET TO THE DOME COMMUNITY LAND We have tried to be accurate on these distances, please email us if you find any corrections. To locate the entrance: Coming from the northern United States on the Blue Ridge Parkway: Exit at Mile Marker 344 on to Highway 80 North. Turn left onto Hwy 80 North towards Burnsville (not Marion). INTERESTING FACT: The Eastern Continental Divide passes through here. A rain drop landing on one side will eventually flow into the Atlantic Ocean and the other side will flow into the Gulf. If you go further on the Blue Ridge Parkway at mile marker 355 you will find the entrance to the Mt. Mitchell State Park-Restaurant and Picnic Area. FACT: Mt. Mitchell is the highest elevation in eastern America, 6,684 ft. Note: Between Mt. Mitchell and Asheville, the Blue Ridge Parkway is closed for repairs. During late fall, winter or inclement weather, please call the Blue Ridge Parkway Advisory at 1-828-298-0398 to see what parts of the Parkway are open or closed. After turning onto Highway 80 North, in one mile you will pass through downtown Busick, a fire station and a general store. Continue westerly, after you pass the golf course, you may see the swinging footbridge on the left. Caution, you will enter a very tight right turn followed by a sweeping left turn. Before the highway becomes straight the community entrance will be the only drive on the right. The address is 10407 Hwy 80 South, Burnsville North Carolina 28714. The number 10407 is posted on a sign nailed ten feet up on a tree. If you come to a sign for Clear Creek Guest Ranch you have gone one mile too far. Turn around and go back. There is a gate across the road. Please call for the combination or walk up the driveway to the dome and the lots. Where the driveway turns left to the first dome (a 45’ on a full basement which will be our office and provide rooms for over night visitors when completed mid 2009), turn right and proceed further up the hill to view the lots. One lot has been sold where the foundation is in progress. The remaining lots prepared for sale vary in size from 1 ½ acres to 2 ½ acres. When you are near the end of the dirt road, the view to the west is Mt Mitchell. Cell phones will work various places along the Blue Ridge Parkway, but once you descend into the community of Busick, cell phones will no longer receive a signal. To make a cell phone call you will need to drive back up onto the Parkway where there is a clear view to the east. If you have any follow up questions, please call Michael Busick at 321-639-8777 or email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it From Burnsville North Carolina: continue on Hwy 19 East for approximately 4 miles and turn right onto Hwy 80 South. The following are distances to Hwy 80 South landmarks, starting from the intersection of Hwy 80 South and Hwy 19 East outside of Burnsville.
From Marion North Carolina headed up the Mountain:
The following article on geodesic domes ran in the New York Times January 11, 2007. The Dome Gains Weight and Settles DownMr. Nelkin decided in the 10th grade that he would someday live in a geodesic dome, after seeing a picture of one in a science book. “It looked like something out of ‘Star Wars,’ ” Mr. Nelkin said. “I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen, and I said to myself, ‘When I grow up I’m going to build one of those.' ” Enlarge This Image
Jeff Topping for The New York Times
SUPERSIZE Houses like John and Cindy Schofield’s in Arizona are defying the countercultural image of the dome. MultimediaIn 2003 he finally did. Now Mr. Nelkin, 45, an Internet marketer, and his wife, Deana, live in a house made of two adjoining domes in New York. The pale gray hemispheres stand out like twin spaceships on a tree-lined street where all the other houses have pitched roofs. But inside, the house looks unexpectedly terrestrial, with overstuffed couches, hardwood floors and rustic fireplaces much like those of its neighbors. The Nelkins are among a growing group of Americans who are building dream homes in the shape of geodesic domes, once a symbol of youthful rebellion but now one of aspiration for aging baby boomers. Hemispheres are sprouting up among the mock Tudors and colonials of upscale neighborhoods across the country, from Veneta, Ore., where a company called Oregon Dome is building a development of 2,000-square-foot spec domes on suburban lots for around $200,000 each, to Asheville, N.C., where American Ingenuity, a Florida company, is starting to put up an all-dome community. Like tofu and yoga, the dome has evolved from countercultural funkiness to middle-class respectability. First popularized in the 1950s by the designer and inventor Buckminster Fuller, who died in 1983, geodesic domes have long been appreciated by environmentalists for their energy efficiency and the way they provide the maximum amount of space with a minimum of material. In the 1960s and ’70s, hippies built them in the wilderness, painting them in psychedelic patchworks; their rounded contours were seen as a retort to all things square or right-angled in Western society. The domes of the Flower Power era were rarely more than a standard 24 feet in diameter and cost less than $1,000 to build, according to Jay Baldwin, an early dome builder and dweller. But many new domes are sprawling mansions of more than 10,000 square feet, built on budgets of a million dollars or more. OTHER ARTICLES ON OUR DOME COMMUNITY Also on January 20, 2007, The Charlotte Observer in North Carolina ran an article "Up to 50 domes will rise among the mountains." The following is the article that ran in the The Charlotte Observer. UP TO 50 DOMES WILL RISE AMONG MOUNTAINS ALLEN NORWOOD, Staff Writer The first two geodesic homes will be complete this summer in a new community in the N.C. mountains - with views of Mount Mitchell. Thirty to 50 domes will sit on lots of 2 to 5 acres, said Michael Busick, founder of American Ingenuity, a Florida dome manufacturer. "We have enough land for that many," he said. "We don't have to hit any number. They're not going to be bunched up close." The site is on N.C. 80 between Burnsville and Marion, he said, about one mile east of the Blue Ridge Parkway. His company is completing access roads now. Busick said the cost of the homes, not counting land, will be about $100 to $130 per square foot. AI domes range from just 373 to more than 5,000 square feet. "The real advantage of a dome house - the reason most people want one - is energy efficiency," he said. "Other than that, it's the futuristic look and strength of the structure." Busick's company owns a rental dome not far from the planned community, for those who'd like to try dome living. The "cabin" offers 1,200 square feet under a 34-foot dome. For information on the cabin - or the new community - visit American Ingenuity online at www.aidomes.com. Why build a Dome within Busick's Dome Community?
1. The dome, or partial sphere, is a geometric form that encloses the greatest amount of volume with the least amount of surface area. Historically, massive domes constructed of stones, brick or concrete were common in ancient Greece and Rome. In modern times, Buckminster Fuller was the first to formulate geodesic principles for constructing a spherical surface by triangular subdivision. 2. During the past decade the home buying public has experienced a substantial increase in the cost of construction, the cost of energy and the cost of borrowing. As a result, there has been increased interest in the use of technology to help address these concerns. In the last decade many people have discovered that the dome home design offers a viable solution. 3. As a residential building concept, geodesic dome home construction translates into a highly comfortable and livable home that has a maximum of floor area enclosed by a minimum of materials. These features combine superior strength and cost-effectiveness in a single structure. In short, the dome home building concept expands the range of simple and economic housing options. 4. Manufactured dome homes are constructed using a triangular network to form a spherical shape. This method provides for a free-span, self-supporting structure requiring no internal supports such as roof load bearing partition walls. This allows for maximum flexibility of floor plan design and utilization of interior space. 5. As an architectural form, the dome is one of the strongest structural forms devised and built by man. Domes that were built centuries ago enclose many of the great cathedrals of Europe. Domes are structurally superior to rectilinear enclosures. The partial sphere is an aerodynamic shape that is very stable in high winds and can withstand heavy snow loads. For these reasons, residential domes greatly exceed the structural requirements of the major building codes in the United States. |
