Home Built Atop of A Missile Silo

It might be the closest you can come to having a secret lair.
A home in the Adirondacks is for sale – that from the outside looks like a traditional mountain retreat. But underneath is a cold war-era missile silo that would make Dr. Evil drool.
“When I first went to look at the space, it was just a stairwell coming out of the ground,” said Bruce Francisco, whose business partner and cousin Gregory Gibbons bought the property in 1991. “I saw that the missile base here was in raw condition, and I thought we should do something amazing with it. I wanted to build a surface home as a covert entrance.”
The above-ground home is 2,000 square feet. But if you use the keypad entry to the basement, you’ll find 2,300 more square feet that was a former launch control center and has been converted with dining and entertainment space and two bedroom suites – complete with marble bathrooms. With 10-foot tall ceilings, simulated daylight and an open floor plan, Francisco says you don’t even realize you’re underground until you come back to the surface again.
“I lived in there when I was building it. It’s very quiet and peaceful. I’ve never slept better,” he said.

Two-thousand pound blast doors will tend to keep the sound out. But, it’s only the start of the bunker potential of the property. Beyond the control center is a 9-story structure where a missile was once housed.  It’s currently empty – but Francisco sees some possibilities.
“It’s 12,000 square feet that could be underground condos if people are worried about the end of the world,” he said.
The Saranac, N.Y. property in the middle of a state park boasts far more features for those who aren’t quite as worried about doomsday -- and it has potential for addtional development. It’s zoned as a private airport subdivision and there’s a runway and hanger on site. There’s 125 additional acres to the west with views of White Face Mountain and a romantic log cabin that Francisco estimates he rents out two to three times a month to vacationers. The whole shebang could be kept as one sprawling property (cold war-themed resort, anyone?) or sold as separate lots.

Features can be bought piece meal - $750,000 for the silo home, $259,000 for the log home, or $1.76 million for the whole 195-acre property and runway. Realtor.com tipped us off to the listing, exclusively held by Mike Franklin, Mike De Rosa and Brian Dominic of Select Sotheby’s International Realty.
Francisco sees that as quite a bargain, considering the government would typically pay around $18 million in 1958 dollars to build a missile silo.
And living on top of your own doomsday shelter? The bragging rights are priceless.

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