![]() ![]() (Its owners had moved on to a different converted missile silo.) There are minimalist bachelor-pad silos and luxury silos. In April, a missile silo in Abilene, Kansas, a couple-hour drive from Kansas City, sold for $380,000. It’s hard to say whether interest has increased as we hit the gas on our way to democratic collapse and climate disaster (ha ha!), but the market seems steady: Every year or so, you see a new story about someone living in one. The property, set in pasture 30 miles outside of Topeka, offers the ultimate escape from a hectic world.Despite what you may think, the property is not unique, as silo-living has become a thing in the U.S. The sellers are at an age where they are ready to downsize and simplify, and it’s now time for a new chapter, with new owners. A hallway showcases news clippings from years past about the offbeat domicile. The owners have preserved the control room, signage, and other artifacts from the structure’s former life as a military outpost. An underground tunnel connects the workshop to the living quarters. The 47-ton blast door leads to the site that housed the missile, which is now used as a workshop. There has been little need to add air conditioning, given the 18-inch-thick walls and ceilings and 36-inch floors. The grounds also include a grass air strip, a pond, orchards, and garden spaces, as well as a passive solar greenhouse with a hot tub.Ī spiral staircase descends to the underground living area, which has a stage, great room, two kitchens, a dining area, four bedrooms and two bathrooms.Ī wood-burning stove warms the space. Before the pandemic, the above-ground unit was busy as a popular Airbnb.Ī new owner could continue the vacation rental business, or even turn the entire place into a “unique tourist destination,” as the listing suggests.Ībove ground, the property features two lookout towers designed like castle turrets, a Quonset building, a 450-foot caretaker cabin, and even a Stonehenge-like ceremonial stone circle with a fire pit, used for outdoor events. However, there’s plenty of sunshine in the above ground one-bedroom residence. The space is a boon, but a buyer will have to become accustomed to the lack of natural light. The below-ground offering includes six bedrooms, three bathrooms, and around 6,500 square feet. The property is entered via a half-mile driveway, and the complex is protected by secure, 8-foot fencing. What they have called Subterra Castle includes an underground living quarters, workshop, and event space that they have called home for more than three decades. Once the area was cleaned out, the owners got to work to build their underground lair. It then took 80 wheelbarrow trips to clear the space of “mud and gunk,” Siegle notes. ![]() It took a high-powered water pump 22 hours to drain over one million gallons of liquid from beneath the Earth’s surface. He explored the underground space with a canoe and flashlight, even diving in, before deciding to take on the massive subterranean project.Īfter the purchase, the first priority was to dry out the space. ![]() Some areas were filled with as much as 8 feet of water, but the bunker’s eventual owner did his due diligence before purchasing. “It had been vacant for some time,” says the listing agent, Trent Siegle with Midwest Land Group. The current owners purchased the property in the early 1980s. That left the site, which had cost the government $3.3 million to build, in sorry shape. After use by the military, the listing in question was turned over to a salvage company that further stripped the property. ![]()
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