Geodesic dome joins the glamping market near Houston

After driving down country roads lined with scrubby trees and thick patches of Indian blanket and black-eyed Susans, the white geo-dome of Cameron Ranch Glamping is an odd but welcome sight.

Garrett Brown's 11 acres near Lake Livingston and the Sam Houston National Forest aren't much different from any other acreage in San Jacinto County, except that the young entrepreneur who dabbles in music producing and real estate has launched a getaway property where urban dwellers leave behind the noise of the city and relax.

With his mom, Teresa Brown, as a co-owner, he is jumping into the hospitality market's buzzy vacation style: glamping.

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Think of it as camping, but with luxuries such as bathrooms, electricity, air conditioning and a hot tub. There's a fire pit, too, for those who want the full outdoor experience, and he can provide the s'mores kit or you can bring your own marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers.

Brown earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Houston's Hilton College of Hospitality and has had his eye on camping/hospitality options for a while. He tried off-grid camping, geodesic dome stays in Arizona and other vacation camping options in Tennessee and Georgia.

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Garrett Brown poses for a portrait in his 426-square-foot geodesic dome at his new Cameron Ranch Glamping campsite.

Who wants to rough it off the grid? Glamping combines camping with luxuries such as a bathroom, electricity and air conditioning.

A sign points the way to the geodesic dome on Brown's San Jacinto County property.

The dome has a small counter with barstools for those who want to eat indoors.

Towels are set up in the dome's bathroom.

The dome was made from a steel-and-canvas kit by Pacific Domes, then Brown added electricity and plumbing.

Robes are set up in the bathroom.

Towels are set up in the bathroom .

The dome has a queen-size bed, full bathroom and a kitchenette.

The kitchenette has a small refrigerator, microwave and IKEA cabinets.

The dining area and the front door are shown here.

Just outside the dome are a covered deck with a hot tub and a swing that sits near a fire pit.

You can still have a fire pit that's true to the outdoor experience of camping.

The covered deck has a hot tub, plus a pizza maker and a grill.

An awning adds a little more shade to the front of the dome.

Brown added a small putting green near the dome.

This wellhouse was painted by one of Brown's artist friends. It features images of Pimp C, Beyonce and Willie Nelson. He expects to add images of Janis Joplin and Selena, too.

The geodesic dome won him over, and he bought a kit from Oregon-based Pacific Domes. He and his buddies assembled the steel and canvas structure, laid vinyl planks for flooring and installed a nicer bathroom than most campers expect. A kitchenette with a microwave and small fridge completes the 426-square-foot dome.

A small path leads to a covered deck with a large hot tub, pizza maker and grill.

"My mom and I wanted to do something different. Create a place where people can work on their mental health and reconnect. It's not too far from the city, but in the middle of nowhere and with the amenities you need," Brown said.

The site's name — Cameron Ranch Glamping — is meant to honor Brown's brother, Cameron, who had bipolar disorder and died by suicide 14 years ago when he was 21.

The past few years have been a boon to camping and every iteration of the nostalgic family vacation. When the coronavirus pandemic sent everyone home to do their jobs, many realized they could hop in an RV, see the country and still handle school work and jobs. If they could work from their home office, they could do the same from a picnic table outdoors with a view of a lake, mountains or something far prettier than their backyard.

Kampgrounds of America reported that in 2021 there were 9.1 million first-time campers, one-third of whom said that the pandemic prompted them to try camping. Some 46 percent of them worked remotely while on trips.

Viewing the early pandemic years, camping grew by 36 percent from 2019 to 2021, with 57 million households going on at least one camping trip in 2020, the KOA report said.

If RVs and camping options sound like something suburban seniors do when they retire, think again. Urban dwellers are the most avid campers, and 54 percent of new campers are people of color.

And it's skewing younger, too, with Gen Z and millennials making up 53 percent of all campers, KOA said. In fact, 70 percent of new campers are 40 years old or younger.

"Camping" can include staying in an RV with all the comforts of home. At the other end of the spectrum, sleeping in a tent on the ground without hookups for electricity, water or sewage and cooking your food over a fire counts as off-grid camping.

Owning an RV might be more expensive than investing in camping gear, but the RV Industry Association reports that people age 18-34 are now 22 percent of the RV market. There are 11.2 million households with RVs, and demographically, they're split almost equally between those over and under age 55.

But there are disrupters in the camping world, too, and those would be places like Brown's geodesic dome in Cold Spring, as well as treehouses in forests, yurts set up in the mountains and hotels made up of "suites" carved out of shipping containers or nostalgic Airstream trailers.

El Cosmico with its Airstream trailers in Marfa and the Flophouze Hotel of shipping containers in Round Top are two examples. Or you can go to StarStruck Glamping in Terlingua and take in panoramic views of the Chihuahuan Desert and Chisos Mountains of West Texas.

Many glamping sites are listed on AirBnb.com or VRBO.com, but the growing popularity of camping has given rise to websites such as hipcamp.com, thedyrt.com and sekr.com, which bills itself as the Vanlife App but is useful for all campers.

Glamping is a relative newcomer, with 36 percent of campers going on their first glamping trip in 2021 and even more hoping to go glamping in 2022, said the KOA report.

At 32, Brown falls in the middle of the millennial generation and he sees the allure of glamping. You don't need an RV or a garage full of camping equipment. With his geodesic dome, he provides everything but your food, drinks and bug spray.

In August he expects a prefab OOD Mirror House to arrive, and when it's all hooked up to electricity, water and sewage, it will be for rent, too. He plans to set it up in the back park of his property, away from the geodesic dome.

The dome rents for $299-$325 a night on weekends and $229-$299 a night on weekdays. A four-bedroom, 3½-bathroom house on the property — it has an Astros-themed bedroom and another that's Whataburger themed — will soon be for rent for $249 a night weekdays and $325 a night on weekends. The mirror house, Brown said, will likely be similarly priced.

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