A luxury lodge carved into the side of a mountain has had many lives — first as a fallout shelter and, later, as a nightclub, resort and private residence.
Courtesy of Arkansas Diamond Realty
Beckham Creek Cave, a 5,572 square-foot cave house in Arkansas’ Ozark Mountains, recently hit the market for $2.75 million. The cavernous property bears the design of a shelter or a hideout from the rest of the world. In 1983, Celestial Tea founder John Hay bought the cave for $146,000 and spent nearly $2 million turning into a fallout shelter for use in the case of nuclear disaster.
Courtesy of Arkansas Diamond Realty
But as time passed and the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union dimmed, the four-bedroom, four-bathroom property took on other uses. The next owner tried to use the space as a hip nightclub while later renovations (the latest one in 2014) turned it into a luxury lodge.
Arkansas Diamond Realty’s Rayne Davidson is the agent trying to find a buyer for the $2.75 million listing. These days, Beckham Creek Cave is used primarily as a resort, which can fetch up to $1,600 a night during the summer season.
Courtesy of Arkansas Diamond Realty
The cavern was truly designed with escape in mind — it sits on 253 acres of land and has its own indoor waterfall and geothermal heating system.
Courtesy of Arkansas Diamond Realty
Inside, the house boasts a wooden kitchen bar, an indoor movie theater and bathrooms with built-in rain showers.
Courtesy of Arkansas Diamond Realty
At the same time, it has never lost its cavernous touch — inside, the walls are laden with stalactites and stalagmites.