Photography by Steve Stephens
Bunker Down
March 1, 2002
So you’ve acquired the quiver of trophy properties in London, New York, Jackson Hole and St. Bart’s, and the time-share jet for the commute, but do you have your own FUDS?
In these uncertain times, FUDS (Formerly Used Defense Sites) are just the thing for those “duck and cover” days when the minions of evil are intent on raining down hellfire and brimstone on your capitalist head. The FUDS are decommissioned missile silos that once housed nuclear warheads and are now being converted into residential properties that even Dr. No would say “yes” to. And with good help so hard to find, even in the best of times, you never have to do windows.; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc(); "Open floor plan; indoor pool & glass staircase lead to rooftop garden")
The Atlas-F, for example, is built to withstand a 20-megaton airburst a mile away, the perfect place to peacefully pass through the apocalypse while watching Dr. Strangelove on the big screen. All of the bases decommissioned after 1965 are being destroyed to conform to international treaty agreements, so the inventory is limited—making them valuable collectibles, as well. “They’re the castles of the 21st century,” says Ed Peden, who is the man to see if you want to buy one. (You can check out his inventory of about a dozen such sites at www.missilebases.com.) (Click image to enlarge)
Interest in these subterranean split-levels has soared since September 11. “I’ve had about four times the usual calls and e-mail since 9/11,” Peden says.
He lives in one himself—one of nine Atlas-E launch sites built in eastern Kansas in the 1950s—and has a line on these and others scattered throughout Texas, New York, Oklahoma and Nebraska.
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