South Royalton dome house

The house and its outbuildings were constructed in the wilderness, on a 21.25-acre (8.60 ha) parcel about a mile from Pluck Hill Road in Royalton. The three-story house was built on a rock ledge, with ropes strung to allow access to the entrance.[2] It was built inaccessible to cars, necessitating passing a field, pond, deep forest, and a concrete tunnel.[1]

The house was designed in a dome shape due to the shape's strength, and built using metal pipes encased in translucent white plastic.[2] Its materials were primarily salvaged, donated, or purchased from Craigslist.[3] The first floor had a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and a mud room with storage. The floor is made of concrete, which stays cool. The second floor, made from hand-hewed boards and accessible via a ladder, was a craft area decorated with Mantzel's artwork. The third floor was entirely a trampoline, made up of chain-link fencing, and strong enough to support ten people at a time. The room was used to watch DVDs, using a projector and screen.[2]

The residence was designed to be completely off the grid. It utilized passive solar heating along with a wood stove constructed from a 55-gallon metal drum, which is also used for cooking (the family would cook all their own meals). Electricity was generated from a modified bicycle as well as several solar panels,[2] and was used for a Mac laptop, a 3-D printer, and a few 5-watt lightbulbs.[1]

Other buildings on the property have included a springhouse, also constructed in a dome, and what Mantzel called "the Banana Building", a Quonset hut-style building used for storage and as a workshop. Mantzel also built a lumber mill building a short distance up the hill from his house.[2]

Mantzel, originally from Hamilton, Ontario, first visited the U.S. when recruited to run track and field events at a college in the country.[2] He attended Brown University as an engineering student, and switched his major to art after one semester.[3] He graduated in 1999 and soon afterward moved to the Vermont woods, where he spent the last 10 years, as of 2012.[1]

The house was built in about six months' time, while the foundation took an additional month to construct. Mantzel spent his first full winter in the house in 2008-2009,[2] and lived at the house with his partner and their two young children.[1] He would make a modest living of about $5,000 per year at the time through YouTube ads and soliciting donations from YouTube viewers and readers on his website; his YouTube channel has included hundreds of videos featuring his inventions and house.[3][1]

While living at the house, Mantzel designed toys; Wired called him "probably the internet's most popular toymaker".[1] His most significant project was a spider-like robot made of aluminum and steel, 12 feet tall and 18 feet wide.[2] The robot was a prototype for a smaller toy, the "Attacknid", picked up for development by a British company called "Wow! Stuff".[3] The effort, what he called the "Giant Robot Project", went viral, attracting 2 million views in three days.[1]

• Cape Romano Dome House
• R. Buckminster Fuller and Anne Hewlett Dome Home