While perusing listings for a property that could be transformed into an interesting vacation rental, one curvaceous residence caught Michael de Filippi‘s eye.
“I was using different keywords to find a really unique property. I was just looking for something that was different that that would be appealing for people on a short-term rental basis,” he says.
De Filippi, a real estate agent based in the Miami area, landed on a Yaca Dome near Lake Placid, FL. It was listed for $200,000 in June, and de Filippi scored it for $140,000 in mid-November.
Built in 1974, the dome home offers about 1,500 square feet of living space, although none of it can truly be labeled square. The frame is steel, the windows are round, and the ceilings are curved.
“I knew I could do something very unique with it, but I actually had to get there and see the bones of the structure and see what I was dealing with before making that kind of decision,” he explains. “I had a really good feeling from seeing the pictures it was something I wanted to make an offer on.”
Before de Filippi could begin working on the one-of-a-kind home, he had to rectify the issues brought on by a decade of neglect in the Florida heat and humidity.
Realtor.com
Michael de Filippi
Realtor.com
“When the infrastructure work was done, I had to go in there and basically make the aesthetics good. I had to repaint it with different colors to accentuate the steel beams,” he says. “I had those painted orange, which I think gives it a really cool touch.”
Now the work is done and the property is available to rent for around $150 a night. It can sleep up to six guests, and the loft area is set up as an arcade.
“It looks like a spaceship or something like that,” he says. “I describe it as an out-of-this-world experience.”
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It’s now marketed as the UFO Dome on vacation rental sites, but originally it was known as a Yaca Dome.
Named after the designer Joseph Yacaboni, who built the first Yaca Dome in the 1960s near Pittsburgh, this structure was built to withstand earthquakes and winds up to 250 mph.
Newly Converted UFO Dome Home Flies Onto the Rental Market appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.