By Sheba R. Wheeler
The Denver Post
fairplay» Keith Wortman had a
potential deal-breaker when he
was dating his future wife, Sylvia.
“I told her if she was going to get
serious about me,” says the retired
herpetologist, “then someday she
was going to be living in a dome.”
Turns out Sylvia Wortman was
on board—as long as that dome included
a walk-in pantry and a sewing
room, which it does.
Now, just 10 weeks after moving
into their new 4,000-square-foot
dome home, the Wortmans are
opening their doors to the public
today and Sunday as part of the
10th annual Dome Tour.
Their home—which was constructed
beneath an inflatable
frame— along with another dome
home in Conifer and several others
around the country built by the
Texas-based Monolithic Dome Institute
will be open for tours this
weekend. The goal of these tours is
to educate people about the benefits
of living in the round. Those
benefits include extreme energy efficiency
and structural durability.
“The shape of the dome isn’t
what people tend to envision when
they think of their dream home,”
says Larry Byrne, Monolithic’s vice
president of design. “The tours reshape
that vision … because people
can experience domes and see
things that others have done to
dress them up.”
Wortman, 60, used to travel the
country lecturing on exotic venom-
ous reptiles. He started dreaming
about living in a dome about
three decades ago after he saw a
million-gallon water tank in Wisconsin
and imagined it as a
burn- and rot-proof home.
He later lectured at a school in
Idaho built by the Monolithic
Dome Institute. That visit cemented
Wortman’s goal of having
a dome of his own.
His home is nestled among
bristlecone pine trees on a
10-acre lot overlooking a valley.
It boasts picturesque views of
central Colorado’s Mosquito
Range and resembles a Mickey
Mouse hat. One 47-foot diameter
dome is molded to two smaller,
36-foot diameter domes. Half of
the central dome sits atop a
10-foot-high, vertical retaining
wall near a pond.
Unlike geodesic dome homes,
which generally are made of several
panels, a Monolithic dome
is made from reinforced concrete
sprayed into an inflatable
nylon form. Three inches of
steel-reinforced polyurethane insulates
the structure.
“People are shocked to learn
that just a 50-gallon electric hot
water heater keeps 4,000 square
feet of building heated,” says
Wortman, who is assisting another
couple in planning for their
Rocky Mountain dome home.
Wortman’s dome cost roughly
$129 per square foot and is likely
to outlive him.
“It’s constructed like a bomb
bunker,” he says. “This house
will be here 500, maybe 1,000
years from now.”
Personal decorating touches
enhance the Wortmans’ dome,
like the bear tracks stamped into
the front walkway and the Western
motif highlighted by the couple’s
extensive collection of Indian
kachina dolls, paintings, beadwork
and rugs.
The kitchen, dining room, upper
living room and sunken living
room are set off by a metal
art panel and railings.
Sylvia, a retired teacher, is
pleased that at least one part of
her husband’s dream home
wasn’t realized.
“My original dream included
having a pond for my collection
of crocs and venomous snakes in
that sunken living room,”Wortman
says. “But we discovered
my reptiles didn’t do so good at
10,000 feet.”
Every room includes concave
details well-suited to the home’s
textured concrete backbone.
Turn right from the main dome,
walk past the living room, and
visitors find the master bedroom
suite. Turn left and walk down a
hallway to the second dome to
find the library, two guest rooms
and two hobby rooms— one for
Sylvia’s sewing and the other for
Keith’s photography.
Having a devoted sewing
room is a step up for Sylvia, who
used to stash her sewing machine
in a closet, especially because
this room offers views of
high-country wildlife. “I told all
my friends that I came out of the
closet,” she jokes.
Keith and Sylvia Wortman’s
dome home is open for free tours
today and Sunday from 8 a.m. to
5 p.m. It’s located at 2066 Platte
Drive, Fairplay. For more information,
visit monolithic.com.
Sheba R. Wheeler: 303-954-1283
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