Underground home in a Kansas missile silo rockets onto the market

If you’re a modern history enthusiast, or even just someone wanting to take social distancing to a whole new level, an underground home inside a Kansas missile silo listed for $A2.07 million could be the stuff of your Cold War relic dreams.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Cold War-era base set on 13 hectares of land — and protected by 2.4-metre-high fencing —was built as an Atlas E missile structure in the early 1950s in response to the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

Built to withstand bomb blasts, the silo is made up of epoxy-resin concrete and heavy rebar.

Bases like these were short-lived in the US. This particular complex was operated by the Air Force in the early 1960s, but the structure was decommissioned in 1965 in favour of newer technology.

The current owners bought the property in the early 1980s and, despite its sorry and long-term vacant state, set their sights on turning it into a home they could live in.

After the purchase, they had to dry out the space because some parts of the bunker were filled with as much as 2.5 metres of water.

“It took a high-powered water pump 22 hours to drain over one million gallons of liquid from beneath the Earth’s surface. It then took 80 wheelbarrow trips to clear the space of ‘mud and gunk’,” the Tribune writes.

Once the area was cleaned out, the owners were able to build their underground lair, which they called Subterra Castle, and they’ve lived there for the three decades since.

The property has been featured on several TV networks. It includes a multi-level home, workshop and event centre.

A spiral staircase descends to the underground living area, which holds a stage, great room, two kitchens, a dining area, four bedrooms and two bathrooms.

“The 47-ton blast door leads to the site that housed the missile, which is now used as a workshop,” The Tribune says. “An underground tunnel connects the workshop to the living quarters.”

There’s no air conditioning,  but walls and ceilings are 45 centimetres thick and the floors 90 centimetres.

There’s also no natural light. And no mobile phone service.

However, the above-ground one-bedroom residence gets plenty of sunshine and, before the pandemic, was busy as a popular Airbnb.

The complex itself is entered via an 800-metre-long driveway and includes, as well as the underground and above-ground living quarters, two lookout towers designed like castle turrets, a caretaker’s cabin, a Stonehenge-esque stone circle complete with a fire pit used for outdoor events, a grass airstrip and a passive solar greenhouse with a hot tub.