A Small Octagonal House for Hurricanes and Tornadoes


“This octagon house was built as a ‘granny cabin’ with tornadoes in mind. After Hurricane Katrina tore down his house Paul built himself a dome and his mom an octagon. This is what he has to say about it!”

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Couple builds earthbag home in rural Osage County, KS

Keith and Lily Fouts stand in front of the earthbag house they are building for Keith's parents in eastern Kansas.
Keith and Lily Fouts stand in front of the earthbag house they are building for Keith’s parents in eastern Kansas.

“RURAL OSAGE COUNTY — When Keith Fouts was a child and camped with his grandparents on their Lake Pomona lot, he would play on a nearby stretch of property and dream of one day owning it.

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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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Trailer Houses versus Earthbag Building

I’ve been writing about the problems with building codes for a while now. Just for the record, I’m not 100% against codes. Limited codes can be beneficial, but the current situation is way over the top. This fact is well illustrated by comparing trailer houses (also called mobile homes) to buildings made of earthbags. A … Read more

Disaster Resistant Catenary Domes

Specifications: 314 sq. ft. interior, 181 sq. ft. interior loft, total = 495 sq. ft. interior, Footprint: 23’ diameter This blog post is a continuation of the discussion about disaster resistant domes. So far we’ve talked about Hemispheric Domes and key ideas about How to Build the Strongest Buildings That Can Last Centuries. Wiki describes … Read more

How to Build the Strongest Buildings That Can Last Centuries

Dustin: I live in Florida where few domestic buildings last more than 50 years because of hurricanes. I explored the Monolithic Dome for quite some time. They have stood the test of direct hits by very powerful hurricanes that leveled the entire neighborhood; except the dome. The dome is the only sensible structure here. No … Read more