Building a house is not an easy task, especially in a foreign country, and especially with unusual materials. But that didn’t deter Catherine from Austria, who moved to Montezuma, Costa Rica in 2017 in search of a quiet life and solitude with nature. Some time ago, she set out to build a domed home, which, according to her, was supposed to be “unusual, unique and amazing.” Well, she succeeded. Construction began with clearing and marking the place for the foundation of the future domed house.
“Nobody here knew about the material I wanted to use or how to build the dome, let alone combine the two. I remember the first time I met my contractor, he was wearing dirty work boots and a leather hat. I was fascinated by his personality and humor.
When I told him about my project, he laughed and said that I was a little crazy. But he was interested in this idea and he agreed to help me. My architect friend went to the workshop to learn this building technique to teach me and my workers.” Correctly determining the density of the foam was one of the most difficult tasks. But in the end everything worked out and we intended to make the 1200 blocks needed for the construction. Most days I started working with the workers at six o’clock in the morning and often worked with them. Pouring blocks into homemade molds. The next day, the blocks can be removed from the molds and left for subsequent curing.
“My heart always starts beating a little faster when I think about them. They were so dedicated to the project and worked incredibly hard. Everything took longer than expected, I spent more money than planned, and I worked harder than I thought. But I really liked it.”
“Many people came up to me and asked about our construction. These domes have definitely received a lot of attention, respect and admiration in the area.” “I did a lot myself, but I am also happy that some friends have contributed to the creation of beautiful works of art.”
Friends helped create paintings, wrought iron doors and windows, and my extraordinary roof that opens up to look at the stars at night from my bed.” “And now we’re done! I am overwhelmed with pride, happiness and I still cannot believe what an amazing place we have created. And I have so many stories about this project that I just want to tell.”
Katherine named her domed house Green Moon Lodge.
Green Moon Lodge is now bookable on Katrin’s website (as well as Airbnb). You can rent a house from two nights and for no more than two people. Two nights at Green Moon Lodge, including cleaning fees and taxes, will set you back $141 or $70.5 per night.