View source for Physics:Underground House Colorado

{{Short description|Underground House in Colorado}}
{{Infobox building
| name                = Underground House Colorado
| image               = Underground House Colorado.jpg
| image_size          = 320px
| image_caption       = Entrance to the underground house in Ward, Colorado
| native_name         = Mountain Home<br>Stapp Lakes Ranch
| native_name_lang    =
| map_type            = 
| map_alt             = 
| map_dot_mark        =  
| map_dot_label       = 
| relief              = 
| map_caption         = 
| map_size            = 
| coordinates         = {{coord|40|7|5|N|105|32|42|W|type:landmark_region:US-NM|display=inline}}
| address             = Beaver Reservoir Road
| status              = 
| cancelled           = 
| topped_out          = 
| building_type       = Private
| architectural_style = Ranch-style house
| classification      = 
| location            = Ward, Colorado
| location_city       = 
| location_country    = U.S.
| completion_date     = <!-- or |est_completion= -->
| opened_date         = 1964
| closing_date        = ca. 1988
| demolition_date     = 
| cost                = $200,000
| ren_cost            = 
| client              = 
| owner               = Sacred Mountain Ashram 
| landlord            = <!-- or |management= or |operator= or |governing_body= -->
| architectural       = Underground
| other_dimensions    = 
| structural_system   = 
| material            = Concrete and steel
| size                = {{convert|3,400|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}
| floor_count         = 1
| floor_area          = 
| architect           = Jay Swayze
| architecture_firm   =  Underground World Homes
| main_contractor     = 
| developer           = 
| engineer            = 
| structural_engineer = 
| services_engineer   = 
| civil_engineer      = 
| other_designers     = 
| website             = 
}}
The '''Underground House''' in Ward, Colorado, was a [[Earth:Subterranea (geography)|subterranean]] dwelling known for its architectural design, which embraced the concept of underground living. The house was designed by architect Julian "Jay" Swayze (1923–1981) in the 1960s. The dwelling is an example of an unconventional approach to residential construction and integration with the natural environment. It was included in the Underground World Home exhibit at the 1964 New York World's Fair.<ref name="Castillo"/><ref name="Swayze"/>

== History ==

In 1964, Girard Henderson had an underground home built on a {{convert|320|acre||adj=pre|}} mountain ranch located near Ward, Colorado.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=awwAAAAAMAAJ&dq=Stapp+lakes+I.S.+Stapp&pg=RA10-PA17|title=The Pacific Reporter|volume=168|issue=|journal=West Publishing Company|date=1918|access-date=2023-06-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://localhistory.boulderlibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A37337|title=Stapp Lakes Lodge|work=Boulder Public Library, Carnegie Library|date=1920|access-date=2023-06-15|archive-date=2023-06-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230615224121/https://localhistory.boulderlibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora:37337|url-status=live}}</ref> 

The construction was completed by builders Julian "Jay" and Kenneth Swayze, from Plainview, Texas.<ref name=“Mountain”/> The Swayze brothers established a company known as Underground World Homes, specializing in the design and construction of full-sized underground residences. On May 13, 1963, Swayze initiated the process of securing a patent for his underground home design. Patent US3227061A was officially granted to Swayze on January 4, 1966, recognizing the underground home concept. This patent marked a milestone in the development of underground dwelling technologies.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US3227061A/en|title=Underground building|work=IFI CLAIMS Patent Services|date=January 4, 1966|access-date=2023-06-15}}</ref> Swayze's approach led them to create various underground homes, including one that Jay Swayze resided in with his wife and two daughters called [[Physics:Atomitat|Atomitat]]. It was the first home in the U.S. to meet civil defense specifications for a nuclear shelter. Henderson became intrigued by the idea and decided to invest, acquiring a 51 percent share of Underground World Homes.<ref name="Castillo"/><ref name="Dearmond"/>

During that same year, Henderson undertook the construction of an almost identical underground home, sponsoring the [[Physics:Underground World Home|Underground World Home]] exhibit at the 1964 New York World's Fair, copying the concept pioneered by the Swayze brothers.<ref name="Hirshon">{{cite news |last1=Hirshon|first1=Nicholas |title=The Secret Spot Hidden Below New York |url=https://narratively.com/is-it-down-there/ |access-date=24 April 2022 |publisher=Narratively |date=17 October 2012 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416031532/https://narratively.com/is-it-down-there/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="McDonough">{{cite news |last1=McDonough |first1=Doug |title=Looking Back: 1964 World's Fair featured Swayze underground home |url=https://www.myplainview.com/news/article/Looking-Back-1964-World-s-Fair-featured-Swayze-8417921.php |access-date=26 April 2022 |publisher=Plainview Herald |date=12 October 2013 |archive-date=26 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426185912/https://www.myplainview.com/news/article/Looking-Back-1964-World-s-Fair-featured-Swayze-8417921.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Porter">{{cite book |last1=Porter |first1=Donald J. |title=A jet powered life : Allen E. Paulson, aviation entrepreneur |date=2019 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-1476676562 |page=114 |edition=Illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NhKSDwAAQBAJ&dq=Underground+World+Home+world%27s+fair&pg=PT122 |access-date=24 April 2022 |archive-date=16 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516182305/https://books.google.com/books?id=NhKSDwAAQBAJ&dq=Underground+World+Home+world%27s+fair&pg=PT122 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Henderson and his wife spent time on the property.<ref name="Enterprise">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/enterprise-record-underground-home/124817462/|title=Colorado Family Lives in Underground House |work=Enterprise-Record|place=Chico, California |date=September 11, 1964 |access-date=16 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.roomonethousand.com/underground-dream-world |title=Underground Dream World|journal=UC Berkeley's Graduate Architectural Journal|issue=8|author=Greg Castillo|date=|access-date=2023-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Welch|first=Bryan|title=Colorado's Free Enterprise High |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-1981-11-08-co/48607571/ |work=The San Francisco Examiner|place=San Francisco, California|date=November 8, 1981|page=310 |access-date=2023-07-26}}</ref><ref name="Gothamist">{{cite news |last1=Carlson |first1=Jen|title=Is The 1960s World's Fair Underground Home Still There? An Investigation |url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/is-the-1960s-worlds-fair-underground-home-still-there-an-investigation |access-date=25 April 2022 |date=20 March 2017 |ref=Gothamist |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813224224/https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/is-the-1960s-worlds-fair-underground-home-still-there-an-investigation/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kilzer">{{cite web|url=https://www.denverpost.com/|title=Colorado's mystery millionaire|author=Louis Kilzer|work=Denver Post|place=Denver, Colorado|date=1983|access-date=2023-06-09|archive-date=2023-06-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610000545/http://www.denverpost.com/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ashram"/>

[[File:Underground House Ward, Colorado.jpg|thumb|Underground near House Ward, Colorado]]

The Swayze brothers authored a book titled ''Underground Gardens & Homes: The best of two worlds, above and below.''<ref name="Swayze">{{cite book |last1=Swayze |first1=Jay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2gm4GQAACAAJ|title=Underground Gardens & Homes: The Best of Two Worlds, Above and Below |date=1980 |publisher=Geobuilding Systems|place=Hereford, Texas|pages=33, 136}}</ref> Published in 1980, the book delved into the nuclear age, addressing the imperative need for comprehensive planning to safeguard ourselves from potential adverse consequences.<ref name="Dearmond">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-napa-valley-register-underground-hom/126358848/|title=Underground luxury homes remain hidden across country |work=The Napa Valley Register|place=Napa, California |date=May 3, 1996 |access-date=13 June 2023}}</ref> 

Situated {{convert|28|mi|km|spell=in|0}} northwest of Boulder, Colorado and at an elevation of {{convert|9500|ft|m|abbr=on}} above sea level, the dwelling, dubbed "Mountain Home" by its contractors, employed a building technique known as "ship-in-a-bottle", that deployed mountain top removal, followed by the pouring of a concrete shell, and finally the reinstatement of the mountain top.<ref name="Castillo">{{cite journal|url=http://www.roomonethousand.com/underground-dream-world|title=Underground Dream World|journal=UC Berkeley's Graduate Architectural Journal|issue=8|author=Greg Castillo|date=|access-date=2023-06-07|archive-date=2022-05-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503021343/http://www.roomonethousand.com/underground-dream-world|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Swayze"/>

== Design ==
[[File:Underground World Home interior photos.png|left|thumb|Underground Home interior photos]]
[[File:Underground World Home living room.png|thumb|Underground Home living room]]
[[File:Underground World Home swimming pool.png|thumb|Underground Home swimming pool]]

The Ranch-style house one-level {{convert|3,400|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} underground [[Earth:Earth shelter|earth shelter]] was designed to blend with the surroundings with earth against the walls and on the roof. It had a brick veneer siding but was enclosed in a waterproof concrete shell and covered with a compacted earth [[Engineering:Berm|berm]]. The entrance was created to look like an opening to a mineshaft. To make the house functional, over $104,000 ({{Inflation|US|104000|1964|fmt=eq}}) was spent on the hydroelectric system that supplied the underground dwelling with power. Water for the system flowed from glacial snowpack on Mt. Audubon.<ref name=“Mountain”>{{cite journal|url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=MNE19881013-01&e=--1940-----en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-%22Jerry+Henderson%22+underground-------0------|title=Ashram bring light to retreat|journal=The Mountain-Ear|volume=12|issue=1|place=Nederland, Colorado|date=October 13, 1988|access-date=2023-06-08|archive-date=2023-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609201959/https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=MNE19881013-01&e=--1940-----en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxCO%7CtxTA-%22Jerry+Henderson%22+underground-------0------|url-status=live}}</ref> More than $200,000 ({{Inflation|US|200000|1964|fmt=eq}} was spent in total to make the house livable.<ref name="Kilzer"/>

To imitate the comforts of above-ground living, the wood-frame home had three-bedrooms, a swimming pool, and fake "outdoor" patio.<ref name="Enterprise"/> Because the house had no window, artist Jewell Smith painted ''[[Physics:Trompe-l'œil|Trompe-l'œil]]'' murals depicting the {{wipe|New York City}} skyline from the living room and the Golden Gate Bridge from a bedroom.<ref name="McClure">{{cite news |last1=McClure |first1=Wanda |title=Muralist to Feature Work at New York World's Fair |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100407957/underground-world-home-murals/ |access-date=25 April 2022 |work=Lubbock Avalanche-Journal |date=9 March 1964 |archive-date=25 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220425012114/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100407957/underground-world-home-murals/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Castillo"/> Windows within the structure revealed a narrow corridor that served as a separation between the "exterior" wall and the concrete retaining wall. As noted by architecture historian Beatriz Colomina in her book, ''Domesticity at War,'' this architectural element disrupted the conventional notions of inside and outside.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Colomina|first1=Beatriz|title=Domesticity at War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qs2MEAAAQBAJ |date=2007|publisher=MIT Press |isbn=9780262033619 |access-date=14 June 2023}}</ref> The house had a remote-controlled lighting system that could imitate the night sky and sunrise.<ref name="Dearmond"/> Additionally, a fireplace channeled smoke through a fake tree trunk to the surface.<ref name="Enterprise"/>

==Current State==

After Henderson died on November 16, 1983, the Colorado mountain property, including the underground home, was put up for sale for $1.5 million dollars. It was purchased for $1.17 million by the Sacred Mountain Ashram on June 9, 1988 from a mysterious reclusive millionaire who was "terrified...of being caught in a nuclear holocaust." After the sale, the exterior walls of the underground house were dug free of dirt, windows were built to allow sunlight to come into the home.<ref name="Ashram">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-sentinel-henderson-mountain-re/126059837/|title=Ashram buys pristine mountain retreat|work=The Daily Sentinel|place=Grand Junction, Colorado|date=August 8, 1988|access-date=8 June 2023|archive-date=15 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230615235234/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-sentinel-henderson-mountain-re/126059837/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=“Mountain”/>

==See also==
* [[Physics:Underground World Home|Underground World Home]]
* [[Earth:Underground living|Underground living]]
* [[Earth:Earth shelter|Earth shelter]]
* 1964 New York World's Fair
* List of lakes of Colorado
* [[Physics:Underground House Las Vegas|Underground House Las Vegas]]

==Publications==
* ''Alexander Dawson School, Nothing Without Labor of Love of the Land,'' Alexander Dawson School, Lafayette, Colorado, 2012
* ''Colorado Mountain Hideaway," Previews Inc., Denver, Colorado, 1986
* ''Add A Fourth "R"...Responsibility," Colorado Junior Republic School, Lafayette, Colorado, ca. 1973
* ''CJR Health Education Center,'' Alexander Dawson School, Lafayette, Colorado
* ''The Hub, The Colorado Junior Republic,'' Volume 2, 1973-1974

== References ==
{{Reflist}} 

== External links ==
* [http://www.worldsfairphotos.com/nywf64/booklets/underground-world-home.pdf New York World's Fair, Underground World Home Brochure]
{{Man-made and man-related Subterranea}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Underground House Colorado }}
[[Category:Radiation protection]]
[[Category:Subterranea (geography)]]

{{Sourceattribution|Underground House Colorado}}