Faye's Underground Home: The Coober Pedy icon for sale with a rich history

An underground home preserved as a museum, built by the first woman to own and operate an opal mine in Australia’s cheapest town, is now for sale.

It took Faye Nayler and her two friends an entire decade to build the three-bedroom residence using picks and shovels, while also mining for opals.

The project began in 1962 when Nayler bought a single-room “dugout” in a Coober Pedy postman’s garage.

In the South Australian town, life underground was (and is) the norm: cave-like structures help residents avoid the sweltering desert heat.

They finished the build in 1972, and opened Faye’s Underground Home for public tours, which have been running ever since.

The current owners have run Faye’s Underground Home since the early 1980s and wish to pass their tour guide batons onto the new owner, who they hope will keep the house in its current state.

As an iconic tourist attraction, visitors can pay for guided tours of the opal tunnels below as well as the main residence.

The home’s decor is a frozen-in-time snapshot of life for the three women, who lived there for the duration of the build.

A retro-style bar built from rocks echoes the 1960s and 1970s design era; the entertaining room on the ground floor has hosted many guests over the years.

The most impressive addition is the indoor swimming pool that flows from the large living space.

It was added, along with a wine cellar, after the initial underground home was built.

Lined with greenery and poolside seating, it was the first in-ground swimming pool built in Coober Pedy and takes up almost the entire room.

Expressions of Interest

25 Old Water Tank Road, Coober Pedy SA 5723

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Join the list of those who have taken a tour, and you might just fall in love with this one-of-a-kind property.

Price guide is available on request.