You Can Huff and You Can Puff: $1.3M Pensacola Dome Home Is Made To Outsmart Hurricanes

by Tiffani Sherman

Designed to weather the elements in storm-prone Pensacola, FL, a domed waterfront home definitely stands out—or around, at least.

The house was built in 2007 by owners who wanted a unique and, most importantly, hurricane-proof structure.

“They weren’t always in Pensacola,” explains listing agent Bill Dyess, with Avast Realty. “They wanted to build something that they could leave and not have to worry about during hurricane season.”

So they built a 3,000-square-foot dwelling with 30-foot ceilings and an open-dome structure, on more than a half-acre. The wildly unique abode is now listed for $1.3 million.

With 8 miles of rebar embedded in its walls, the three-story home has so far proved to be impervious to weather events. This is not surprising: The house is wind-rated to more than 300 mph, Dyess says.

“Walking into the house is a lot more dramatic than looking at the pictures,” Dyess says of the three-bedroom, two-bath home.

Striking though it may be, the home needs a bit of work.

The original owners were “minimalistic kind of people, so they never finished the house,” Dyess says. “It’s built like a tank and, structurally, it’s super sound. But they just weren’t into aesthetics, so they never did anything that was decorative to the house.

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“The house needs somebody to come into it and finish it out,” Dyess says. “The lot itself has 130 feet on the water, with beautiful scenery.”

The sale includes two lots, which would accommodate an additional home. Dyess says the land alone is worth about $900,000.

Amenities include a sandy beach with deep-water access, a permit that allows for a 180-foot boat dock, and an RV pad with hookups.

Plus, the property is in an area with no homeowners association, which basically means there are virtually no building restrictions.

“It’s one of those properties and structures where sky’s the limit,” Dyess says. “You can do whatever you want to it and really have something that’s very unique in the end. I think it could be a very nice house to entertain in, if somebody just came in and put the right touches on it.”