Photograph by Lars Tunbjörk

During construction of their cave house, William Sleeper and his family lived in tents inside the cave and washed laundry and dishes in buckets. (Photograph by Lars Tunbjörk)

The Cave Dwellers William, Deborah, Kian, Perry and Wesley Sleeper; Festus, Mo.

Seven years ago, William and Deborah Sleeper found a choice piece of property just west of the Mississippi River. The defining element? A 17,000-square-foot sandstone mine that at one time housed a roller-skating rink and a concert hall. "We loved it," William says, "but the property is just 3 acres and a hole. No one wanted to finance it." The family bought the property themselves, but were cash-strapped when it came to building there. "One wall was a lot cheaper than four," William says. So he incorporated nearly three dozen orphaned sliding-glass doors into a 45 x 45–foot outer wall at the mouth of the cave. Inside the 2000-square-foot front chamber, the Sleepers—including daughter Kian, 16, and son Perry, 14—spent four years building a sprawling kitchen, an office and three bedrooms with recycled hardwood floors. A stairwell gently spirals through the home's three levels.

"I had a bit more confidence than common sense," William says. "I wasn't intimidated by the project. But that stairwell took me six months." The doors' double-paned, insulated glass provides passive solar heating to bring the cave's temperature to 70 degrees, year-round. Three industrial-grade dehumidifiers pull 300 gallons of water from the air daily, keeping the living space between 60 and 70 percent humidity. Interior roofs and umbrellas shield sensitive areas such as the kitchen from the sand that sheds from the walls. The Sleepers worked with the city of Festus every step of the way to build evacuation routes and meet building codes. "Some people can't imagine that cooperation, but the politicians all roller-skated here as kids," William says. "Three generations of folks have enjoyed this property." And maybe more to come: These underground geniuses refinanced in March 2009 for the long haul—right after a doctor visited the home to deliver their third child, Wesley.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io