Have you ever thought of living underground? It does sound fascinating, but if you would tell someone that you are planning to custom build an underground home, you would probably get strange looks. The reason is that majority of people have the misconception that earth-sheltered or underground homes are usually dark, damp cold and smell like mud. They think building them comes with lots of disadvantages. But it’s not true.
Some pre-existing underground homes from around the world are proving the less known fact that living in them has more advantages than traditional homes. They prove underground homes can be equally beautiful and comfortable as traditional homes. Don’t believe us? Have a look at these 10 insanely cool and best underground homes from around the globe. They are bold, beautiful, and comfortable to live in all year round.
10 Best Underground Homes Around the World
1. Bill Scherbauer’s Underground Home, Ohio
Bill Scherbauer from Ohio is one of those people who are living in an underground home full time. He built his home several feet below the ground with front open to the surrounding, and he is living in this since 1979. It was built by Scherbauer with the help of local high school students, which allowed him to keep the cost of construction low. The partially underground home looks like any conventional above the ground home from the entrance, but actually is more beneath the ground than above it. There are windows and doors on the front for natural light and ventilation. Also, there are multiple skylights to bring in natural light and air inside. A porch, garage, and roofline are visible from the driveway.
Image: daytondailynews 
Image: daytondailynews 
Image: daytondailynews
2. Omaha Underground Home
This thermal –efficient earth-sheltered home is in Omaha, Nebraska. When looked far from the road, it looks like a big green driveway, but as you come near you will see it is packed with a lot of surprises. The partial underground home uses geothermal energy for cooling and heating the entire space. So when it is snowing and freezing outside, the interior space will stick to a cozy temperature. The entire dwelling is constructed using three rebar-enforced concrete domes, topped with up to a 5-foot thick layer of soil. There is also a tempering chamber across the green roof, houses air vents, chimney, and all in/out connections to underground homes.
3. The Cave Home
The cave home is another interesting underground dwelling that was built by Sleeper’s family a few years ago. It is a cave house inside a sandstone cave on three acres land in Festus, Missouri. The house walls inside out are of natural sandstone, and no additional material is used to construct the walls. The interior gives the feel as if you are outside, without the discomfort of outside’s hot and cold weather.
4. Underground Survival Condos
Designed for safety, comfort, and to maintain a luxury lifestyle in extreme conditions, this underground condo in Kansas has more than 7 floors beneath the ground. There are a few more underground dwellings like this in the area. Each condo has various underground apartments, equipped with different amenities including some luxury living spaces and common spaces. Each condo can accommodate more than 75 people, and they can choose among four different living options according to space needs and their budget. The first option is to go with a half-floor, with 900 square ft of living space. There is also an option to buy an entire floor, and even add some custom features to it. The condo’s walls are 2.5 to 9 feet thick and able to withstand critical natural and manmade conditions, including nuclear attack.
5. Bermed Earth Sheltered Home in Wisconsin
The 2236-square-foot multilevel underground house is an inspiration for people looking for a different living experience. The energy-efficient private house is located in River Falls, Wisconsin. It is designed by the architect Mike McGuire, and built by Pat Clark and Emogene Nelson using two arched steel shells set in concrete connected through a hallway and a staircase. The beautiful house features two bedrooms with skylights, a kitchen, two bathrooms, two-car garages, and a living room. It is a complete house with all the important amenities to live a comfortable life.
6. Underground nuclear bunker, Georgia
Built-in 1969, this luxurious underground bunker in Georgia first was a US army base camp. It is located 45-feet below the ground and renovated in 2012 to provide people nuclear proof luxurious living beneath the ground. The property holds four 600-square feet luxury apartments, each containing a living area, a kitchen, two king-size bedrooms with bathrooms. Its 3-feet thick walls make it nuclear proof and natural disaster-proof. The climate inside is consistent and cozy all year-round.
7. Underground Hobbit House, Quindalup, Australia
This underground hobbit house is a full-time home of Nigel Kirkwood from Western Australia. Located in Quindalup, around 20 km from Busselton, the hobbit home maintains consistent temperature all over the year. The sustainable earth-sheltered house is covered with nearly 1,000 tons of mud. Its walls and entire structure are made of 19 tons of high-quality steel and Polyurea water-proof coating, which makes it incredibly fire and waterproof.
8. Water tank underground home
Located on English Channel coast on the outskirts of Sidmouth, this 5 bedroom underground home before was an old water reservoir. It was renovated by Robert Hardy and his wife, Ann for the entire family with two kids, on the 603 square-meter area. All rooms of the property are built around the central open deck that features a cozy outdoor sitting area. The grass rooftop gives you the feel as if you are living in an underground dome home. There are also a lot of windows that don’t make you feel that you are actually underground.
9. Vals House by SeArch and Christian Müller Architects
Here is another interesting underground property is the Vals house, located in the Swiss village of Vals. It is a mesmerizing home amidst cluster of mountain houses. It is built by two Netherlands architect firms, SeARCH and Christian Muller. The idea behind this property was to build a house near to famous thermal baths in Vals, Switzerland. It is designed in a way with so many glass windows at front that a person living inside could view the stunning scenery especially the majestic Alpine view.
10. Flower Petals in Bolton, UK
This underground home is a dream home of the former footballer and captain of Manchester united, gray Neville. He always wanted to live in a flower-shaped underground home, so he sent a proposal to the authorities many times to build the property in Bolton UK. After being rejected by the authorities so many times, the property finally got approval. The beautiful house is extremely eco-friendly and is built on an 8000 square foot area.
We want you to know the lesser-known facts about underground homes and their benefits.
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What are underground homes?
Underground homes are houses built underground or below the earth’s surface, either partially or completely. They can be built anywhere beneath the ground by digging down the earth. They are a good alternative to above-ground dwellings or residences.
What are earth-sheltered homes?
Earth-sheltered homes are usually buried below the ground surface. They are dwellings built with walls and a firm base underground, or below the first layer of earth. They are also known as underground homes.
What is the major difference between underground homes and earth sheltered homes?
There is no major difference between underground homes and earth sheltered homes. They both are homes built underground with a firm base and walls. When a house is not beneath a flat ground but under or inside a small hill or mountain it can be called an earth-sheltered home.
How are underground homes built?
Underground homes can be built using various earth drilling and digging techniques. There are six types of building earth-sheltered and underground homes. Constructed caves – Use techniques for tunneling into the earth or mountains. This can be an expensive and dangerous process.
Cut and cover – Also called culvert home building. The technique uses precast concrete pipes, concrete sheds, or shipping containers in the desired size or shape, and then burying them in under the ground.
Earth Berm: In the technique, house is first built on ground or any hill’s surface, and then buried, leaving a wall or roof open for light.
Elevational: Elevational homes are underground homes built at the side of a hill with the front of the home left open.
Atrium: These are also known as courtyard homes. In the technique, the rooms are built below the ground around a sunken garden or courtyard that lets light in.
PSP: PSP stands for post, shoring and polyethylene. The house building technique involves dig up the ground, putting in posts, placing shoring (boards) between the posts and the earth, and placing polyethylene plastic sheets (for waterproofing) behind the shoring.
Shaft: Shaft is a technique for underground construction used in Japan for Alice City Plans. It is a construction of a wide and deep cylindrical shaft sunk into the earth with a domed skylight covering, and different levels for business and domestic use built around the shaft.
All kinds of underground constructions require well-designed ventilation systems to manage air quality and humidity. A builder can combine all these techniques to custom-built an underground home or construction according to the location requirement. Also, for all underground construction fire safety should be a priority.