Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Interested in purchasing and living in a renovated missile silo? Well, look no further! You can now buy one in Nebraska for the not-so-bargain price of $750,000! YouTube star Andrew Flair purchased the 2,500-square-foot decommissioned Atlas-F Missile Silo in 2022.
The Missile Silo has a history in the United States. The Army Corps of Engineers built silos during the 1950s nuclear missile arms race with the Soviet Union. They designed them to endure a nuclear attack.
Construction of 1960 missile silo. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Flair, who has 2.6 million subscribers on YouTube and posts videos about fishing, hunting, and other outdoor activities, told The National Desk: “Jokingly, I text my real estate agent, and I was like, ‘We should go look at this and make YouTube videos, and it would be sweet to have a place like this.”
That joke became a reality for Flair, who knew it would take a lot of work to make the underground bunker a livable space. “My initial thoughts were, like this is a nightmare, a disaster,” he explained, noting that it was a bit of a challenge financing the silo and dealing with the banks, appraisal process, and insurance company.
Adding some mystery to the structure, Flair heard that a body was hidden inside the silo from a 1990s murder narcotics case. Law enforcement purportedly could not find it because the bunker was filled with so much debris.
Flair told Fox 11 News his mission was to sell it as a turnkey property. It took some creativity because the bunker has a different shape than the average home. For example, they needed to cut rectangle laminate into a circular shape while avoiding gaps on the floor. Flair also added a movie theater popcorn machine and foosball table to entertain future residents.
The entire renovation process took Flair and his team just 45 days. They gutted the entire structure, cleaned it, and built a bathroom and full kitchen. Afterwards, they painted the structure and added appliances and furniture. He dubbed it the “ultimate underground house.”
The real estate listing for the silo describes it as “an opportunity to own a piece of cold-war military history and the ultimate survivalist retreat, weekend escape, or perhaps an Airbnb.” The silo includes electricity, hot and cold running water, a septic system, and a water purification system. While the price is steep, annual taxes are only $432.
Realtors Polly and Mike Figueroa mention that buyers intrigued by distinctive properties like this former nuclear missile silo have already contacted them.
The sale of the silo coincides with the release of the new film “Oppenheimer” on July 21, 2023. The film, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, and Matt Damon, centers on theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer’s role in developing the atomic bomb.
Interested in learning more about nuclear artifacts? Well, you’re in luck! Ripley’s has recently purchased a piece of nuclear history!
By Noelle Talmon, contributor for Ripleys.com
