29. May 2026
Florida spray PU foam house goes on sale for $249,000
An unusual Florida house constructed from sprayed polyurethane foam and rebar has been put on the market for $249,000, drawing renewed attention to experimental polyurethane-based building techniques that emerged during the 1970s.
The four-bedroom property in Gainesville, Florida, known locally as the "Foam Dome", was built in 1972 by University of Florida landscape architecture student Mark Cohen. According to property listings and historical accounts, the structure was formed around a welded rebar framework before polyurethane foam was sprayed onto the exterior shell and coated with cement-based finishes.
The house has been listed through Florida realtor Portal Realty, with agent Jordan Fennell describing the construction as "one of one" in comments published by Realtor.com.
The 1,700 sq ft (158 m²) building consists of interconnected domes and curved passageways. Marketing material for the property states that "not a single straight line exists anywhere in the building", with every wall and ceiling formed from hand-shaped curves.
According to Realtor.com, Cohen originally believed the technique could become a sustainable and energy-efficient alternative to conventional housing construction. The property's thick foam shell continues to provide substantial thermal insulation, while the building has reportedly survived decades of Florida storms without significant structural damage.
Historical accounts indicate that the project was part of a broader period of experimentation with polyurethane foam architecture in the US during the 1970s and early 1980s. A 2019 feature by Abandoned Florida reported that Cohen used pre-stressed welded rebar as the structural framework before spraying polyurethane foam onto the exterior and applying cement coatings. The publication also noted that Cohen attempted to commercialise the concept and built several smaller dome structures using similar methods before eventually abandoning the business.
The Gainesville house has no direct connection with the better-known Xanadu Houses project, which used sprayed polyurethane foam construction techniques to create futuristic demonstration homes in Florida, Tennessee and Wisconsin during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In those projects, inflatable forms were coated with expanding polyurethane foam to create self-supporting shells.
Polyurethane-based dome construction attracted interest because curved structures can offer high strength-to-weight ratios, reduced material consumption and improved energy efficiency. More recently, dome housing has attracted renewed attention in hurricane-prone regions of the US, with advocates citing resilience to extreme weather and lower heating and cooling requirements compared with conventional housing.
The Gainesville property is being marketed as a restored example of experimental architecture from the period. Realtor.com described the structure as "a genuine original", while local historical accounts note that it has previously been known as the "Flintstones House" and the "Igloo House". Another rigid foam dome home, also given a "Flintstones" nickname, has recently gone on the market in Duluth, Minnesota.
Photo: © Brick City Photography for Portal Realty