A man has revealed how bought a 1980s nuclear bunker for a ‘good price’ and transformed it into a stunning home in the mountains of Montana.
Dean Anderson stars in a YouTube video made by documentary maker Kirsten Dirksen in which he opens up about his unique property project.
He explains that he fell in love with Paradise Valley, Montana, while he was fishing in the area five years ago but all the property was too expensive.
However, after conducting a thorough search he came across a man who was selling a dormant bunker for a reasonable price and snapped it up.
Dean Anderson stars in a YouTube video made by documentary maker Kirsten Dirksen in which he opens up about his unique property project
After conducting a thorough search he came across a man who was selling a dormant bunker for a reasonable price and snapped it up
In the YouTube video, footage filmed by Dean shows how his home slowly came together over the years. He attached an exterior structure to bring in more light
In a bid to make the bunker a livable space, he went about cutting doors and windows into the reinforced concreate
In his tour, Dean explains how he turned one space in the bunker into an open plan dining area and kitchen
Dean said the sale price included 45,000lbs worth of food which was stored in the basement and there was also enough medicine and oxygen supplies ‘to stay under there for several years.’
He said that these bonus items helped seal the deal.
The outdoorsman explained: ‘Basically to me it was like a million or a million and a half dollars worth of cement stuck underground with all this old food and all this old other stuff which made me salivate.
‘I was thinking “wow, all this leftover stuff gone they’re gong to bury it so I can buy it for next to nothing and turn it into something cool.”‘
In the YouTube video, footage filmed by Dean shows how his home slowly came together over the years.
In a bid to make the bunker a livable space, he went about cutting doors and windows into the reinforced concreate.
He also attached an exterior structure, which serves as the home’s entranceway with oversized windows offering prime mountain views.
In his tour, Dean explains how he turned one space in the bunker into an open plan dining area and kitchen.
Because of the curved ceilings, he had to install horizontal freezer and refrigeration units.
Other features of the kitchen include a central island with a six burner range and three sinks which he says makes washing up easier when hosting large numbers.
Touching on the design aesthetic, Dean says: ‘We wanted to keep the place… kind of like a bunker or a shelter or a nuclear fallout shelter, so we went with a lot of aluminum… a lot of greys.’
In a bid to be as sustainable as possible and to keep costs down, Dean made lots of the furniture himself or repurposed items.
In one clip he demonstrates how uses an old flamethrower he found discarded in the bunker as a doorstop.
Moving down to the basement – which Dean estimates is around 20ft deep – the homeowner reveals how it took lots of effort to get rid of all of the wheat and other food supplies
Because of the curved ceilings, he had to install horizontal freezer and refrigeration units in the kitchen area
As there are no windows in the main living space, Dean installed bright white bulbs ‘with a little blue tint’ in the ceiling and added blue paint
Dean installed an office in the new extension area as it has more light
Other living spaces he shows to viewers includes a shower room inside an old storage room
As there are no windows in the main living space, Dean installed bright white bulbs ‘with a little blue tint’ in the ceiling and added blue paint.
He says at one point: ‘[It’s] to try to get the feeling that you’re outside… It’s almost like the sky.’
Other living spaces he shows to viewers includes a bedroom inside a former medical center, a shower room inside an old storage room and an office in the new extension.
The underground shelter was built to accommodate 250 people but Dean shows in one clip that the conditions would have been quite cramped.
In one of the narrow bedroom spaces he explains that the plan was to fit each of the slimline compartments out with multiple bunkbeds so everyone would be living on top of each other.
Moving down to the basement – which Dean estimates is around 20ft deep – the homeowner reveals how it took lots of effort to get rid of all of the wheat and other food supplies which were stored in sealed barrels.
He made use of some of the goods he found, with abundant supplies of olive oil, sesame oil, mung beans, margarine powder and peanut butter powder.
There are still two floors of building to complete, but so far Dean has gone about creating two apartment spaces in his sprawling bunker.
In the video, he explains how he has done all the work with a team of young men in recovery.
He believes that physical labor can serves as therapy as he managed to give up alcohol the same way.
All of the men, who are often just off the street or out of prison, receive training and payment for working on the construction project.
Dean says of his rehabilitation concept: ‘We’ve had 40 kids through here. The bulk of whom are clean and healthy and doing well.’
In Paradise Valley is it estimated that there are more than 50 bunkers that were built in the 1980s to prepare for nuclear fallout.
According to Dean, all homeowners in the area were required to have a spot in a fallout shelter and ‘it was actually in the home owners association’s (HOA) documents.’
Summing up his unusual bunker conversion project, Dean concludes: ‘It has been one hell of a ride with this thing.’
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