Photography by Steve Stephens
Bunker Down
March 1, 2002
There is a certain Blade Runner Brutalism to the graffitied rebar concrete walls of these sites that makes an ideal setting for your more severe Prada, or a rave for 5,000 friends. “In fact, these spaces can look a lot like converted lofts,” he says. The Pedens, on the other hand, preferred a warm “homey” touch with an Afghan war rug woven with images of helicopters. They also have brass patio lanterns bracketing the front door. The entry hall is a 120-foot corrugated metal tunnel. The 1960s missile-base control panel in the foyer is the welcoming design statement. The 54-by-54-foot living room, which once served as a command post during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, now has a stage for family theatricals and plenty of room for the drum circles the Pedens and their friends enjoy. A trench used as a cooling bath for Atlas engines was converted into “a nice little wading pool for the girls.” Peden admits, “Some days my daughters, Ashley and Heather, would complain about living in a hole, but they had plenty of space for big parties.”; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc(); "Renovations cut windows through the walls to let light in")
Of course, chacun à son goût. If you like more conventional cocooning comforts, you’ll feel right at home in the aboveground contemporary three-bedroom family cabin in the Adirondack Park in upstate New York that comes complete with a private airstrip, an attached hangar, and a 12,000-square-foot camouflaged “basement.” “People have no idea what is down there,” says a spokesman for Franwick Industries, which spent $1 million developing the property. “It just blows them away.” If you like cosmic jokes and don’t want to be blown away yourself, it’s worth the asking price of $2.3 million. There is, it should be noted, a status pecking order even in missile silos. “As fixer-uppers, the Atlas sites are potential castles while the Minuteman capsules are more like mobile homes,” advises Peden. (Click image to enlarge)
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