‘We went from homelessness to off-grid dome home life – here’s how’

Most people can’t imagine having to drive five hours to and from the nearest supermarket, but that’s exactly what Sean and Jessica Hughes have to do twice a month to continue living their dream life in an off-grid dome house in Tennessee.

For the past six years, Sean, 44, and Jessica, 40, have endured the long shopping trips as one of the few drawbacks to an otherwise idyllic life, one the couple never thought they would achieve after being bankrupt and homeless while living in Los Angeles.

It took guts, determination and some inspiration from YouTube to help the couple achieve their goal, and today they say they couldn’t be happier, even if their life on a 50-acre patch of dense forestland isn’t what anyone might imagine as the perfect setup.

“We’ve learned to be happy with what we have instead of what everyone else wants,” says Sean.

“We just want it to be our personal sanctuary. We want to be able to get lost here, be in our creative space and enjoy that; that’s the ultimate goal,” Jessica adds. “Everyone’s off-grid life is a different story. It’s not ours to be survivors.”

​Life before we went off-grid

Long before moving off-grid, the Hugheses had moved from Western Pennsylvania to Los Angeles with big dreams. But life in the City of Angels turned out to be very different from what they had imagined.

Sean, who worked “basically 20 out of 24 hours” a day, earned just over $100,000 a year. But even with that salary, the couple could barely make ends meet.

“We worked so hard to maintain a bare minimum, that we forgot to live,” says Sean. “We weren’t really living; we could barely make ends meet.”

The two eventually lost everything and became homeless on the streets of California for a little over a year until they were able to buy an RV. They fled to the desert and after some time were inspired by YouTube creators Off Grid with Jake and Nicolle, Tyler and ToddAnd Eamon & Becthey decided to pursue a life that was actually within their reach.

​“Our electricity isn’t going to be turned off, our water isn’t going to be turned off, and we were going to try to live this life that we saw on YouTube and that other creators were living,” Sean remembers of their vision.

In April 2021, the Hugheses purchased a plot of land for approximately $1,000 through an owner-financed land company. They then set about building a home base for themselves on the property, determined that it would be a labor of love they could be proud of.

​“We didn’t want to just move into the building and say everything was built for us,” says Sean. “We wanted to kind of struggle through it and learn as we go so we could do this for the long term.”

A milestone move

Interestingly enough, the dome house was never intended to be the Hugheses’ final home, but rather as a stopgap solution that would protect them while they got back on their feet.

In fact, they initially planned to live in their RV and park it on their land until they could build something more concrete. Then disaster struck when the vehicle they were living in began leaking, resulting in a fair amount of mold, forcing the couple out of the RV and into a 10-by-20 tool shed.

Stuck in the cramped building with their two dogs and all their belongings, Sean and Jessica began looking for a housing alternative that could be built quickly for as little money as possible. It was then that they learned about the geodesic dome house.

​“It seemed like a cheaper, faster option to handle a lot of space,” Sean explains. It was “a solid structure that could handle some of the wind and weather we have here.”

The materials for the dome house, shipping costs, and an extra deck of cards they decided to bring cost about $10,000. They paid another $20,000 to install the various systems they needed, including a water hook-up and a wood-burning stove.

This brought the total cost of their dome home to $30,000 – less than one-tenth of the current average sales price for a home in the U.S., which is $429,500, according to Realtor.com® data.

And as luck would have it, the duo eventually fell in love with living in a dome house and six years later are still making improvements to the structure, from upgrading their solar power to increasing the voltage of their Amazon box so they can power more devices.

​“We’re still trying to get to the point where we’re completely comfortable, and we can just go on with our lives because that’s the goal,” says Sean. “It’s about living a minimalist lifestyle, with as low bills as we can, without sacrifice.”

A minimalist lifestyle

Since living off-grid, the couple has maintained a minimalist lifestyle, one that not only allows them to keep costs down, but also has little impact on the environment.

Although they now feel in control of the life they have built, they have made mistakes along the way.

One of the biggest was the installation of their off-grid geodesic dome. Placing their home in direct sunlight created serious temperature control issues.

In the summer, temperatures in the dome house can reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit. In winter the temperature can drop to 20 degrees. Although cost-effective, the wood-burning stove can only heat the room to a limited extent, and many evenings are chilly.

Then there are the challenges of living off the grid – which for Jessica started with learning to share their space with an abundance of wildlife.

​“Insect pressure was a very real thing for me, something I didn’t expect,” Jessica reveals. “Learning to live next to insects and skinks and lizards and bees and things that want to come in like snakes was a huge transition for me.”

The first year she lived off-grid, Jessica thought she wouldn’t survive. But after six years she has ‘learned to live with it harmoniously’.

Another essential off-grid item the couple had to figure out was clean water.

They had purposely purchased land with a creek on it, and in addition to collecting rainwater, they also installed a tap from which they could drink. But the transition still came with some complications. For example, doing laundry in the creek is a tough job, regardless of the weather.

“Everyone sees this life as freedom, and in so many ways it is. But you’re trading comforts for the same kind of conveniences that require work instead of money,” says Sean. “It’s the labor input that now goes into your lifestyle.”

But there are so many elements of their lifestyle that they love, including the increasingly sustainable way they can live, especially when it comes to food. They grow their own fruit and vegetables and go to the supermarket or hardware store twice a month.

They learn how to store food, but also how to barter and trade with their neighbors who are not connected to the electricity grid.

“We want to get as close to self-sufficiency as possible,” says Sean. “We actually didn’t realize how much hard work that is.”

Becoming influencers

While living off-grid and working hard to maintain their lifestyle, the couple has launched a career as content creators.

Inspired by the YouTubers they watched when they first transitioned to off-grid living and with Sean’s passion for video production and editing, the Hugheses came up with a way they could make money without having to leave their country.

​However, after starting a TikTok account and a YouTube channelthey realized that the dream they had sold looked very different.

​“We were kind of sold the dream by some of these bigger influencers who made it look magical and beautiful, but what we realized is that we were moving from a situation that was difficult to survive in everyday life to one where you just traded them for other hardships,” says Sean.

The couple decided to share the unvarnished truth of off-grid living.

​“I have gained so many followers because we are very honest and open about our mistakes, the bug pressure, [and] that you encounter in everyday life. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns in this lifestyle,” Sean explains.

​With their TikTok account, @offgridseanwith over 333,000 followers, it seems the couple’s honest approach is working.

Outside of TikTok and YouTube, the couple has corporate sponsorships and produces promotional videos for their land business to generate revenue. Occasionally they film weddings and other events in their community for a fee.

In addition, companies occasionally fly Sean to Maine and Florida to help them with their own social media.

An off-grid future

The Hugheses enjoy spending their time together working on projects, gardening, filming content, and preparing a home-cooked meal every evening.

“We basically do everything together. It’s a life we ​​spend together,” says Jessica. “We do it together, or divide and conquer as necessary.”

Looking ahead, the Hugheses are moving from their original plan to build an extravagant home to maintaining their minimalist lifestyle. They now plan to build a small 1,000-square-foot cabin as their permanent home with their two dogs.

They would also like to build a greenhouse and upgrade their solar energy.

While Sean would love an “off-grid hot tub and sauna with mountain views,” he understands that it’s not a necessity for him to “live a comfortable life.” Although they plan to add more amenities over time.