Secret Underground Las Vegas House Opens (Briefly) to Public

A rare opportunity has emerged to tour Las Vegas’ most peculiar home. Most Las Vegans know about the so-called Underground House, a 15,000-square-foot doomsday bunker built entirely below ground, yet enveloped in fake daylight, trees, and grass to simulate the real outdoors.

The Underground House has a swimming pool, a four-hole putting green, waterfalls, two hot tubs, a sauna, a dance floor, and a bar. (Image: Realtor.com)

Few, however, have ever seen the architectural curiosity in-person, because it’s been in private hands since it was built. Now, a rare chance to tour The Underground House is being offered as part of a bus tour sponsored by the Nevada Preservation Foundation (NPF) on only three days this April.

Subterranean Home Sick

The Underground House was built 25 feet below street level by millionaire Avon executive Girard B. Henderson in 1978. An acknowledged pioneer of underground living, Henderson sponsored the Underground World Home exhibit at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

The main house has two bedrooms and three bathrooms in 800 feet. It’s joined by a 600-square-foot casita. (Image: undergroundhouse.vegas)

The Underground House was conceived as a bunker to shelter Henderson and his family from the nuclear war he believed would inevitably break out between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. Henderson died of a heart attack in the house on Nov. 16, 1983.

The house is located at 3970 Spencer St., about three miles due east of the Flamingo casino resort. But you can t tell from the street, because a mundane two-story house, which appears to date to the 1980s, was built on top of it.

The current owner listed the Underground House for $5.9 million in 2021, 2023, and 2024 without any takers. Its last listing was removed on February 4. (Image: Realtor.com)

In March 2014, Henderson s former home was purchased for $1.15 million by the Society for the Preservation of Near Extinct Species, a secretive group dedicated to prolonging human lifespan.

In September 2020, it was sold for $841,066 to its current owner, a Texas-based company called the Stasis Foundation.

NPF’s bus tour, called “Home + History Las Vegas,” begins at the Atomic Museum and includes lesser-known sites of the atomic age, such as forgotten fallout shelters and observation points for nuclear detonations.

The tour takes place April 25-28, 2024, and costs $125 per person, proceeds from which will benefit historic preservation.

to reserve a spot.

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