Built For Survival: Turning a Retired Missile Silo Into Condos and Other Homes For Preppers

Photo: Greenbrier Missile Silo/TheVerge.com

I have wanted to write a piece about “prepper” real estate forever, but every time I’d find someone to talk to, they’d never offer details about their property, their home, how much of it could weather a nuclear holocaust, you know, basic stuff.

I did write about the “Earth Sheltered Home” on Buckner, but it’s no missile silo, you dig?

And then I found this awesome longform piece on The Verge from November 2011, in which Jonathan Flatley talks to wealthy, educated people who think the world mayhaps end soon, so they’re getting ready.

While the piece doesn’t include any specific locations, my favorite part is the tour of the old Cold War Nike missile bunker “somewhere in the old Cincinnati-Dayton Defense Area.” One of more than two hundred underground facilities where the United States stored nuclear weapons in the time of “mutually assured destruction” and acid wash jeans, this one spot has been converted into a “man cave” where you can store your classic cars, take a swim in the underground pool, and ride out the end of the world.

There is no way of knowing how many privately owned bunkers there are in the United States, but if the number of stories on the internet and the twenty-four hour news channels is any indication, there is considerable consumer interest. One has a hard time gauging to what extent this interest translates into sales, however. Aside from the fact that these are private companies dealing with private individuals, there are security concerns. If you were convinced that the world would soon be transformed into a Mad Max-esque nightmare hellscape, would you go around advertising your safe haven?

Excatly. Or in the words of my friend who introduced me to a few preppers, “You have to keep from compromising your OPSEC (Operations Security).” Still, there are several spots listing bunkers and silos, most of them are in the northeast and midwest. This one in particular shows the approximate locations of those for sale.

Still, if you have a unique underground lair you’re looking to unload, or a survival shelter you want to show off? We’d love to feature it in CandysDirt! Give us a shout at [email protected]!