1. Stone Desert Home in Greece
At first glance this house may not look very Greek in design and architecture, but that’s only the outside, which is only visible at its center (where it resembles a ruin more than anything else).
Inside, the house is very Greek in form and feel. Designed by Deca, the house leverages its buried nature to be extremely energy efficient, kept naturally warm and comfortable by the earth itself. Natural light does make its way in from above, creating an underground space that is surprisingly airy and bright.
2. The Underground House, Great Ormside, Cumbria, England
In an old quarry on a slope of the Eden valley and commanding beautiful views, local architect John Bodger designed a two-store house that burrowed backwards into the rock, and made maximum use of natural resources for light, warmth and power.
It was built by Phil and Helen Reddy, who were impressed by how environmentally friendly an earth-sheltered home could be, and soon found the ideal site for their dream house. The land they decided to build into was on an old quarry site that stood on a slope of the Eden valley in Cumbria. In April 2002, work on the house commenced, as well as the creation of a separate, single-store building designed to house a clinic for Helen’s veterinary practice.
3. Estate Lättenstrasse, Dietikon, Switzerland
This settlement finds itself in contrast to the surrounding of traditional single houses. To the south of the lot, there is free agricultural land.
The earth-covered houses are grouped centered around a small artificial lake with the entrance well hidden and integrated at the side of the settlement. That not just serves the completion of the form, but also guarantees the secondary access of the particular houses through the subterranean parking lot. The residential settlement consists of nine houses.
4. Sedum House, North Norfolk Coast, U.K.
This home was built to maximize exposure to sunlight, though most of the home is underground! Eco-friendly, easy to heat and cool, and featuring a unique rain water harvesting system, this private residence may very well be the home of the future!
Tom and Anna Ground live in a house of the future. Sedum House is a trailblazer, set in a steep sand hill inland from the wide skies of the North Norfolk coast. The bedrooms are hidden deep inside the earth, with ground-level windows that give them a hedgehog’s view of the outside world, peeping through wild grasses, thistles, lupins and gorse.
5. Cave Dwellings For Rent, Kandovan, Iran
Located in Iran at the base of Mt. Sahand, these 700-year-old dwellings are carved out of natural volcanic rock formations. Though these largely subterranean apartments are very old, they have all been updated and include all of the modern comforts of home.
If beachfront property or vacation rentals near prime tourist attractions are no longer cutting it for you, consider checking out a very different type of getaway home. These incredible underground houses carved from natural rock formations local to Kandovan, Iran are available for rent and even for purchase. They might seem like a new gimmick to attract tourists, but these inherently low-energy houses are actually 700 years old!