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Cave House

by on Mar 5, 2009

Curt Sleeper fell in love with a cave. And then built his house into it. The 17,000 square foot cave has three chambers that are separated by cinder-block walls. The entrance is sealed with 24+  windows made of recycled sliding glass doors. Curt bought 300 of the doors for 3 bucks a piece. The cave’s kitchen–yes, it has a kitchen–features granite tile counters and two ovens.

The hallway of a home being renovated.

The dwelling requires a commercial-grade de-humidifier, but it DOESN’T require heating or air-conditioning as the ambient temperature stays on a constant 62 degrees.

Basement of a home with walls made of stone.

Curt says he’s invested about $150K for improvements to the cave, for which he paid $166K. Because Curt is self-employed, his credit score isn’t the greatest. And even though banks were giving money away for a while there, lenders still balked at financing a cave. Ultimately, he put down half the asking price and the seller agreed to finance the rest with a 5-year-balloon note. The note is up in May and Curt’s credit score is still low. And he’s still trying to finance a cave-house. Although he’s put the cave up on eBay, he’s not really interested in selling the property. He’s hoping the exposure will bring in a private investor who’ll finance his dream home.

A freshly lacquered wood floor with cave wallpapering.

For more information about Curt and his cave-home, check out this article on stltoday.com. To see more pictures of the dwelling–both inside and out–go here.

A home with unique windows in the living room.

 

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