On a summer day three years ago, Matt and Tracey Schreiner of Kemblesville, Pennsylvania came to Penn Forest Township looking for a vacation home. With their son and daughter in the back seat, they were driving along Rt. 903 at the top of the mountain just east of the borough of Jim Thorpe when they passed the entrance to Bear Creek Lakes and decided to drive around the lake. 

"We loved what we saw in the community," Tracey said to Matt a, who agreed and they decided, "This is the kind of place we want to live." 

"Directly across from the beach they spotted a "For Sale" sign near an  A-frame chalet in a heavily forested lot. But when they contacted the realtor, they learned that the property for sale. hidden behind the trees, was a dome home. 

Tracey  and Matt immediately were intrigued. Tracey had college friends that had rented a geodesic dome. "I thought it was the best house-just fun," she said. "I always wanted to live in a dome. You can do so much with it. They are very open because all the supports are through the walls, everything internal is purely for design." 

Inside, they loved the openness, the natural lighting from skylight windows, the spiral staircase to the loft on the second level and the funky 70s feeling. Their 11-year-old daughter immediately said, "Let's buy it."

 

"The realtor told them that the house had been on the market for two years," Tracey said. "Because (she paused) not everybody wants a dome." Two hours later, they made an offer. 

They purchased the Geodesic house from  Mr. And Mrs. Emil Gutwein who built the house in the 1970s. Gutwein, a civil engineer,  liked for the simplicity of the structure-known for being incredibly resilient in storms. 

They purchased the dome from Domes and Homes of Brielle N.J. as a kit, primarily of triangular wooden panels, which after the foundation and knee wall were set, with friends and neighbors they erected and bolted together in a single day-reminiscent of a barn raising. Then, the house was finished by sheet rook installers and roofers-the domed roof requiring a roofer specializing in that construction. 

From the outside the dome looks a bit like a giant version of the half shell of a walnut with windows. Many of the windows are skylights, since there is no distinction between walls and ceiling in a dome. The skylights are different geometric shapes: a triangle, a square, a pentagon, and a hexagon. They create a campy futurism, a design feature that reinforces their 1970s feel. 

Inside, the dome has a open-space feeling. The living room is the central space and feels like it encompasses the space. There's a central wood burning stove that heats the entire house, although there's an electric baseboard back-up that was required to get an occupancy permit. 

The main floor retains a 70s motif with shag carpeting, period wall covering in a bedroom,  and a lava lamp. 

The spiral staircase leads to a loft that is Kids Central where their children entertain their friends. Away from the adults under a round roof with geometric skylights. "The first ten minutes, they go wild," said Matt. 

The second floor bath and much of the lighting in the home was purchased at a going-out-of-business sale at a Holiday Inn. The bath features a oversized sunken orange tub that has two sets of faucets. 

The dome has some unusual features natural to domes, but unexpected in homes. It behaves like a whisper chamber. A private conversation in the remote loft can be clearly heard near the entranceway. After a few days, guests become very careful about what private things they say . 

Because the dome has no corners, a ceiling fan is enough to circulate heat throughout the building. On the other hand, because it has no straight walls, rooms have walls at odd angles and furniture is difficult to fit against a wall. 

"We are keeping it simple," said Matt. "Some day, we hope to retire up here." 

The Geodesic Dome was invented by R. Buckminster Fuller in the 1950s.