A developer dreams of domes near Mount Baker

By Hailey Hoffman / Cascadia Daily News

As of today, developer Youri Benoiston has a long way to go to realize the immersive lodging experience promised by his company’s extensive marketing campaign.

Right off the Mount Baker Highway in Glacier, the Oculis Lodge pitch boasts 35 monolithic domes, private saunas, 15-foot-wide skylights and telescopes. The project has garnered significant attention across social media and various national websites and raised more than $1.2 million on Indiegogo — the most-funded lodging campaign in Indiegogo history.

The renderings depict the ultimate Instagram influencer’s winter haven, complete with picturesque meandering pathways leading to the domes nestled in snowy hillsides among towering evergreen trees, just 30 minutes from the Mount Baker Ski Area.

Currently, Benoiston is in possession of a narrow 2.16-acre plot sandwiched between the ever-busy Mount Baker Highway and the muddy and unpaved, residential Old Mount Baker Highway. The lot is, as advertised, a half hour from the Mount Baker Ski Area and a short jump from the main shops of Glacier.

Benoiston told Cascadia Daily News in Bellingham that they are aiming to have the first dome constructed by April or May. He said he will be picking up the air form, a balloon-shaped dome, in Texas this week.

In January, Benoiston received a payout from the closed Indiegogo campaign and broke ground on the property covered in underbrush and leafless deciduous trees. With the help of local company B&C Well Drilling and Pump Service, they drilled a well to pull water for the future lodge.

“Today is an exciting day because the water well is being drilled,” Benoiston said in a video sent to Indiegogo backers in January. “Water was the missing piece to obtain the first permit to build the first dome.”

The fundraising campaign

In November 2022, Benoiston launched what would become the most-funded lodging campaign in Indiegogo history. Indiegogo is a crowdfunding website used to raise money for products and projects.

In the first 15 minutes of the campaign, Benoiston said they hit their minimum goal of $10,000. Six weeks later, they finished with $1.2 million from more than 1,700 people.

Backers could donate money or pay for a future stay at the domes. Packages ranged from $359 for a one-night stay to $1,907 for seven nights. Benoiston said in an Indiegogo update they are working on a reservation app to process their future stays.

In the online discussion board of the fundraiser, backers raised concerns over the viability and progress of the project. Benoiston repeatedly asserted the authenticity of the project. He said they were working with Whatcom County Planning and Development Services and lauded his past experience developing a similar project — the Igloo Beach Lodge in Costa Rica.

Permitting

Benoiston began the planning process several years ago, according to documents obtained from Whatcom County. A site plan designed in 2021 depicts one large dome — the main residence — and one smaller dome — the detached living space — as well as a gravel parking lot with a pathway to the two domes on the lot he currently owns.

Benoiston told Cascadia Daily News that construction would begin on the first dome once they “unlock the first permit, which should happen extremely soon based on my communication with the county.”

Currently, Whatcom County is processing a permit for a single-family residence for the property, said Jed Holmes, the county’s community outreach facilitator.

In January 2022, Benoiston filed a pre-application packet to learn what need to be done to obtain a commercial building permit and a land disturbance permit with Whatcom County to build 35 domes across about six acres. The county responded with recommendations and requirements regarding water, sewage, road access and wetlands to create such a development.

Holmes said they haven’t heard much regarding the larger development, and in many cases like this, developers will build a small piece of the project to see how it goes and expand from there.

Benoiston’s update to backers in January said 10 to 12 more domes will be built in the next couple of months in phase two, and 15 to 20 units will come out of phase three. He said they are building domes in phases to allow them to host guests sooner, before they can finish the lodge.

The master plan requires Benoiston to own the four plots adjacent to the one he currently owns under the company name Curated Land LLC. The others are owned by Mt. Baker Trailhead Group, Inc., which is the same company that sold Benoiston the first plot for $225,000 in 2021.

When asked if he was in negotiations to buy the remaining plots of land, Benoiston said, “Some information and internal negotiation will remain private (until) it becomes public.”