No place like dome: A perfectly preserved piece of SA architectural history

After a dome among the gum trees? Tucked away in Eden Hills in South Australia, a 1986-built Hexadome home has come onto the market.

It’s modelled on the original designs of Richard Buckmeister Fuller, an American architect, futurist, and proponent of geodesic dome homes who patented his design in the 1950s.

Often a prefabricated structure largely assembled on site, this style of dwelling enjoyed a surge of popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

This two-bedder at 18 Chitunga Road, Eden Hills has been listed for sale at $480,000 to $499,000 through Ouwens Casserly.

It consists of a larger, main hexagon structure with a smaller module attached, containing a queen-sized bedroom and bathroom.

Having launched the property on Tuesday, agent Jill Wehrs said she’d already had quite a bit of interest.

“It’s the first one I have sold,” she said. “It’s in absolutely original condition, and it strikes me as quite a durable structure.”

“When I first saw it, I was quite intrigued,” she added.

She said that apart from the striking design, it’s also well placed among tree tops with a “beautiful outlook” and lots of natural light.

Ms Wehrs added that it was protected from the noise from nearby Shepherd Hill Road but wasn’t landlocked, with an access gate to a neighbouring property adjoining the major thoroughfare.

She thought it would probably appeal to a younger couple, or someone who enjoyed the bush lifestyle.

“There’s still a lot you could do to it to upgrade it, and also to modernise it without ruining its inherent character,” she said.

Records show the home last sold for $375,000 in 2008.

Similarly-shaped properties are thin on the ground. There’s one option in Kiora, on the south of NSW near Moruya, where a dome home on 11 hectares is up for sale for $645,000.

Further south in Hepburn Springs, near Daylesford in Victoria, there’s a spiralled hexagonal home on the market for $820,000 to $900,000.