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This Family Built A Glass Dome Over Their Arctic House So They Could Live Under The Northern Lights

Think you know what 'off the grid' looks like? Think again...

Many people claim to live the ‘off the grid’ lifestyle, yet few can say that they live it to the same extent as the Hjertefølger family.

This family of six, two parents and four children, live in a cob house in Arctic Norway, wrapped in a fancy greenhouse type structure called a ‘solar geodesic dome’, to protect them from the Arctic circle’s extreme elements.

In one of the most remote parts of the world, the six of them live on Norway’s Sandhornøya island, located over 1000km north of Oslo and in perfect view of the Northern Lights, where very few others have ever chosen to build their homes.


The dome is made of a complex network of triangles created from totally organic materials, which create a microclimate inside the walls and protect the family from the harsh weather, including heavy snowfall and high winds.

The family also use the dome to grow their own food, even during months that are completely baron in the region, three of which don’t even have any sunlight, and recycle all waste to fuel the dome. All of their grey and black water (we can all guess what that means) is reused for fertilizing and watering the plants they grow and the family also composts all their food scraps.

“The feeling we get as we walk into this house is something different from walking in to any other house,” says Hjertefølger.

“The atmosphere is unique. The house has a calmness; I can almost hear the stillness.”


As well as being completely environmentally sound, we love how wackily adventurous this house is!

Perfect panoramic views, the Northern Lights on your doorstep, and the chance to live away from the rat race with all your favourite people? We totally get why the Hjertefølger chose to live in this remote part of the world!

The next step for the family is to find glass that will allow the family to grow fruit and vegetables in tropical conditions!

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