One owner is making a survivalist’s condo out of his silo. Some buyers just want interesting projects to restore a lot of people want the seclusion, privacy and security," Ed said. "Military or former military personnel like the structures since they are familiar with them and know the benefits. They are not the only people specializing in former military sites, but they have been at it the longest and have racked up 55 sales - about five of which are properties they have turned over more than once. Whenever possible, the Pedens contact the owners and negotiate an option-to-purchase contract. After that unexpected success, the couple capitalized on their know-how soon they found themselves in a niche real estate market.Ībout half of these specialized properties are owned privately or by cities, counties, school districts, water companies and other commercial entities. Once word got out about how homey life can be inside a former missile site, people interested in owning their own missile silo contacted the Pedens.Ī neighbor in an adjacent silo asked them to sell his property. They grow vegetables and other edibles in large, sustainable gardens, too. ![]() The Pedens have built a large greenhouse around the hatch that also houses a spiral staircase that leads inside. Not only is it very well built - it is very easy to heat and cool," Ed said. "We love the solid, quiet feel of the place. Today, the 16-by-8-foot open hatch that once allowed heavy equipment to manipulate the missile allows direct sunlight into their living space. The 3-foot-thick floors and 18-inch-thick walls and ceilings - 15 feet high - are built with a special concrete designed to withstand a nuclear blast. In 1960, taxpayers had spent $3.3 million for the silo.įor close to 18 years, the Pedens have lived under a layer of earth approximately three feet deep that covers the top layer of reinforced concrete. Soon after that, he purchased it from a scrap-metal dealer who had stripped the site of recyclable materials.Įd paid $40,000 for the facility - minus the missile loaded with a four-megaton warhead. "It was flooded and in rough condition," he recalled. Peden said he first explored the interior of the silo - which would become his home - in a canoe. The silo was outfitted with a 400-ton metal door and pulleys and cranes to raise the missile upright for launch. In 1982, concerned about his own family’s safety, he set out to find it.Ītlas E missiles were placed horizontally. He taught school in the area and had heard about but never seen the nearby missile site that had been active from 1961-65. ![]() "There were many public discussions about relocating people out of urban areas in case of nuclear war." and the Soviet Union "seemed a real possibility," Ed explained. They purchased it during the 1980s, when a nuclear exchange between the U.S. Edward and Dianna Peden live in a refurbished Atlas E missile silo west of Topeka, Kan.
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