Miracle Springs

Miracle Springs eco resort is looking for volunteer builders.
Miracle Springs eco resort is looking for volunteer builders.

This report is from a reader who goes by the name Ajarn Richard. This is where Steve Areen’s dome home is located and other unique structures such as the ones above.

“I’m staying at Miracle Springs right now. The owner is Hajjar Gibran, author, designer, builder. He is the great nephew to Kahlil Gibran, author of the “The Prophet” and has written the sequel to his great uncle’s masterpiece.

Hajjar and his wife Lumyai worked closely with Steve Areen to design and build his dome home out of cement block. Most recently, Hajjar has created a CEB press and a system for building with foam cement and is eager to experiment with these sustainable methods. They are also owners of the organic mango farm where Steve’s dome is located. The property has many of Hajjars creative structures on it. They plan to create an international center for learning various building methods as well as organic agriculture.

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Steve’s Dome in Thailand — Take Two

Steve’s jungle bath: just one of many outstanding features in this innovative home.
Steve’s jungle bath: just one of many outstanding features in this innovative home.

The blog post the other day about Steve’s Dome in Thailand has caused quite a stir. Read the Comments there to get the background story. Here’s a follow-up report about what’s been happening since. The images of Steve’s home are spreading across the net very fast…borderline viral. This confirms my initial opinion that this home is worth taking a closer look at because it is so exceptional. (See his photo galleries here and here. However, I’m taking some flak for my decision to publish a home built with concrete (reader requested, by the way). This was the first and only time I’ve done this, but in this case I felt the home was exceptional enough and had many interesting features that could be used in houses made of sustainable materials. In other words, we can learn from studying homes built with all types of materials. This was all clearly explained in the original blog post.

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LandTrees.net: Roof for our Cacao Dome


“Here is a video which may be interesting for you: Namely the installation of a corrugated metal roof on one of our domes, “Cacao Dome”. This dome (not to be mistaken with the other you have documented – the EcoRancho and/or Majestic Dome, both in La Chorrera) suffered a lot in the rainy season to the point that we could not use as living quarters during the rainy season.

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Earthbag Workshop in Missouri

Earthbag workshop with instructor Dan Payne, June 6–9, 2013, Bourbon, MO
Earthbag workshop with instructor Dan Payne, June 6–9, 2013, Bourbon, MO

Earthbag Construction: One of the most practical structures is a multi-purpose structure that can serve as emergency shelters, temporary or permanent housing, root cellars or any conceivable structure.

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