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Stories of evil spirits and aliens swirled around the Florida domes. Other tales of elicit activities were bandied about. Neither was close to the truth.
An innovative dreamer, ahead of his time, carefully plotted and planned an idyllic, self-sustainable vacation home on the Gulf Coast for his family to fish, collect seashells, or peacefully relax in seclusion as the waves rolled in.
In the late 1970s, the man surveyed and purchased four adjacent plots of land approximately 300 feet offshore in Southwest Florida. His vision sprang to life as a fantastical structure emerged.
Cape Romano Dome House
In 1980, retired independent oil producer Bob Lee purchased a barge to transport supplies and began construction on the vacation house off Marco Island for him, his wife Margaret, and their children. By completion in 1984, the house attracted local attention and controversy.
Six domes, appearing like igloos, were connected by wooden walkways. The 2400 square feet structure offered three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Some domes had multiple floors.
Bob Lee carefully planned this self-sustainable home. He created a heat source under the floors. His invention brought logs in through the wall of the den and dropped them into the fireplace.
Lee's daughter Jane Maples recalled that her father considered corners on the floors and ceiling as wasted space. The dome shape offered an openness. More importantly, the rounded shape would withstand hurricane winds, allowing minimal damage.
The rainwater rolled down the domed design into a gutter system that led to a 23,000-gallon cistern. The collected water passed through a filtration system to be used for household tasks like bathing and dishwashing. A solar water heater provided hot water.
Solar panels supplied power and the home also had backup generators on hand. The high-efficiency refrigerator ran off a 24-volt battery bank. Compact fluorescent lamps were state-of-the-art.
I can remember one time we went to the drug store on Marco and some people in the row behind me were saying ‘Have you been by those dome houses?' And the other one said ‘Yeah, but I hear they guard that with machine guns!' Somehow it got a reputation of being a scary place. -- Jane Maples, née Lee as told to Coastal Breeze News
After two years, the Lees sold their dream vacation home. The new owners ran into financial struggles within a couple of years. Lee and his family foreclosed on it and moved back into the home to live full-time.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature held powerful and devastating strength. A series of natural events tested the integrity of the constructed dream.
In 1992: Hurricane Andrew destroyed the interior through the windows. The exterior, including the foundation, remained unscathed.
In 2004: Rising water levels crept up the pillars that elevated the home.
In 2005: Bob Lee finally sold the home to a Naples resident, cautioning the new owner, Tosto, to erect a seawall to prevent further erosion. Tosto rejected the idea. Within months, Hurricane Wilma struck, eroding the coastline and destabilizing the house's foundation.
Tosto planned to move the house to higher ground. He boarded up the windows and faced regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the Collier County Code Building and Enforcement Departments to obtain permits.
As time passed, the landscape on the edge of the island changed. Erosion made the homes unlivable. The once firm beach was exposed to the elements and slowly being swallowed by the sea.
In 2007: the home was deemed unsafe -- the Collier County Code Enforcement Board ordered the structure to be demolished by Tosto within two years.
In 2009: Tosto was fined for missing the demolition deadline. By that time, the house's foundational pillars were permanently underwater. The house was officially abandoned. Demolition never happened.
In 2013: Florida Weekly reporter Cynthia Mott wrote that the ruins served as a reef for diverse marine life.
I've snorkeled Grand Cayman, Mexico, and Fiji, yet have never witnessed a more diverse, crowded concentration of undersea life than what has taken up residence under the remnants of those domes.
In 2015: a movement began to move the domes deeper where they could safely become an underwater reef. The movement was not successful.
In 2017: Hurricane Irma hit the domes hard and they suffered additional submersion, portions seemingly collapsed.
In 2018: the Collier County Code Enforcement Division closed the case on the domes and ownership was transferred to the state.
In 2022: The final blow to the domes came from devastating Hurricane Ian's wrath. The structure was completely submerged with just small portions of the pilings peeking above the surface.
Bob Lee was committed to making his eye-catching retreat sustainable and hurricane-proof. His daughter Janet Maples hopes that the ruins provide a habitat for coastal sea life.
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This reminds me of an old nursery rhyme that partly went like this... The foolish man built his house apon the sand and the rains started coming down and the floods came up and the house on the sand went blam . This seems to apply to real life in this situation along with some common sense that was lacking by this man . 🥴
Slander&Calumny
21d ago
that shit look like it was destined to fail from the jump
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