Money can’t buy you happiness, it’s true, but it can buy you a pretty awesome house. What about hidden homes?
Of course, if you’ve got billions at your disposal, why settle for a mansion or a castle somewhere? For one thing, mansions and castles are easy to find. They appear on maps. Boring!
Norwegian Mountain Cabin
Architects like to talk about their buildings “functioning in harmony with nature” but this remote cabin on the side of Norwegian mountain Åkrafjorden takes things a step further – it functions in harmony with nature so well you’ll struggle to separate it from the hill!
It’s curved design, grass roof and use of wood and rock as building materials embeds it into the natural surroundings and gives it a beguiling aura of secrecy.
Apparently the cabin can house 21 guests, though you’ll have to be fit to get there – or own a horse. Let’s hope you’ve got a good sense of direction, though – the house is so well hidden you’ll ride straight past it if you’re not careful!
Barn Conversion
Barn conversions are all the rage these days. Designers love to retain original features like rotten roof beams and rusty doors, claiming that they “add character.”
The designers of this Texas barn had something very different in mind. From the outside, the building has as much character as the protagonists of an airport novel. It looks like a large corrugated iron shed.
Therein, though, lies the genius of the design. If you want something to be truly secret you disguise it and when you open the door of this barn you enter another world. The lavish interior has wood-paneled walls, leather sofas and even chandeliers – a level of luxury you might expect in a Manhattan penthouse.
If you think about it, it’s the best kind of home security imaginable, too. The rich have a lot to lose but who’s going to break into a bland shed in rural Texas in search of riches?
Underground Town
It’s one thing creating a secret hideaway that can house a family or two but surely that pales in comparison to a hideaway for a whole town! Coober Pedy in the Australian outback houses no less than 3,000 people underground and out of sight, with only bland, featureless mine entrances to indicate there may be anything beneath the scrubland.
Coober Pedy dates back to 1915 when it was mined for the stone Opal. The father and son duo who discovered the site quickly realized that it was too hot to live above the ground so found sanctuary in the natural cool of the mine caverns. The town continued to grow and now contains a bar, a hotel and a swimming pool amidst labyrinthine corridors and caves. A truly unique place.
Desert Living
The desert isn’t traditionally seen as an attractive place to live. Water is the stuff of life and there isn’t much of it in the wind-blasted and dust-caked canyons of Utah. There is, however, spectacular natural beauty. Unique rock formations carved by centuries of erosion; orange canyon walls that display the stratum layers of centuries past.
Built into one of these canyons in Utah is a unique house called Cliff Haven, which more or less does what its name suggests but in some style. Built inside a natural gulley in a canyon wall, the house appears as part of the scenery rather than an add on and is a unique secret hideaway for those inclined to enjoy the beauty of the desert in comfort.
Fallout Shelters
When we discuss luxury retreats it seems safe to say that underground bunkers created for use in the case of a nuclear holocaust wouldn’t usually come to mind. When you think about it, though, what better place for a hidden retreat?
The bunkers were designed to be lived in for long periods, have all amenities built-in and have extremely cool period features like control rooms, blast doors, and spiral staircases. Glam them up a bit like Silohome builders have done to some Atlas F-series missile bases and they make a very cool, James Bond villain type of retreat.
The Vivos Europa One Elite Shelter in Germany is an even bigger example. Built into an old Soviet Union Cold War bunker, the complex has over 227,904 feet of floor space beneath ground and houses apartments, pools, gyms and restaurants. There’s even a helicopter service for your convenience!
The Narrowest House in the World
Blink and you’ll miss it. In fact, stare at it and you still might miss it. Keret House in Warsaw, Poland has a width of between 92 and 152 centimeters and is jammed between two far bigger buildings, like an alleyway that felt left out and wanted to become a house.
Designed by architect JakubSzczęsny, Keret House is technically classed as an art installation and has been described by the artist as a memorial to members of his family who died when the Nazis invaded Poland. Those on the margins won’t be forgotten, appears to be the message of the house.
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