Underground House

Las Vegas Underground Mansion

Useful Information

Location:	3970 Spencer St, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89119. (36.1168, -115.1274)
Open:	after appointment. [2024]
Fee:	yes. [2024]
Classification:	Secret Bunker
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	Ar=1,400 m².
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Underground House, 3970 Spencer St, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89119, Tel: +1-702-550-4377, Cell: +1-702-525-6128. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1964	Jerry Henderson built and lived in an elaborate underground house near Boulder, Colorado.
1965	Jerry Henderson pioneered underground living and sponsored The Underground Home exhibit at the New York World's Fair.
1971	Jerry Henderson builds a home in Las Vegas which is partially underground.
1978	Jerry Henderson builds a luxurious underground home near the Alexander Dawson buildings in Las Vegas where he lived.

Description

The nondescript house in a quite normal Las Vegas suburb became famous for its Underground House. This is a bomb shelter 7.5 m below ground, intended to shield its residents from the ravages of nuclear war in luxury. It has 560 m² and includes three bedrooms, four baths, a casita, and a fireplace. With a swimming pool, putting green, two spas, sauna, wet bar, dance floor, a barbecue grill, a billiard room, and seating for over 120 people, this is a really luxurious hideout. The underground bunker was actually a fake house which offered views of the surrounding fake landscape. This was accomplished by 900 m² of surrounding space with a 3.6 m high ceiling and remote-controlled lighting system. The changing light allows simulating sunrise, day, sunset, and night. And there was a sort of artificial landscape with rocks and waterfalls, and murals depicting landscapes.

The luxury bunker was built by Girard Brown Henderson (*25-FEB-1905-✝16-NOV-1983) nicknamed Jerry. He was the executive of Avon Products, founder of the Alexander Dawson Schools, philanthropist and entrepreneur. He was also quite fond of underground homes, and built and lived in an elaborate underground house on his mountain property near Boulder, Colorado, in 1964. The house was completely underground and luxurious. He not only pioneered underground living, he also sponsored The Underground Home exhibit at the New York World's Fair in 1965. The underground home in New York is gone, but the one he built later in Las Vegas still exists, almost in its original state.

Jerry Henderson married Mary Hollingsworth in 1964, and after his death in 1983, his widow rearranged the underground home. Originally there were huge boulders on the land, wíth an elevator leading down to the underground home. Mary Henderson had the boulders removed and a regular-style house built on top of the underground home. She lived here until she died in 1988 at the age of 83. Then the house was sold to Thomas "Tex" Edmonson, the second husband of Lucy Henderson in 1990. He died in 2003 and in 2004 Ken Lowman, owner of Luxury Homes of Las Vegas, tried to sell it for $3 Million, it was sold for $2 Million. It was sold again ten years later, 2014, at $1.15 Million. The new owners first kept their identity concealed, but later it became known that it was the Society for the Preservation of Near Extinct Species.

This is not a museum, it is actually private property, and so it's not possible to visit the bunker. The Society for the Preservation of Near Extinct Species is quite enigmatic, they are very secretive and say their goal is to promote human life extension. Whatever that means. We actually guess it is either a joke or a tax scheme. The president of this society, Mark Voelker, actually lives in the house above. Although the society is not dedicated to preserving history, they spent more than $1 million on improvements. This included maintenance like repairs to the sewage system and wiring, but also purchases of 1970s-era furniture which suited the home. The result is stunning, it actually looks like a time machine into the hot phase of the Cold War. And they allow regular events and tours which are organized by Frankie Lewis. She is the director of Events & Business Development, and offers the site for private events, movie sets, fashion photo shoots, corporate parties, wedding receptions, bachelor/bachelorette parties, and small group historical tours. The shelter was the filming location for the episode Sheltered (S13.E18) of C.S.I. Las Vegas.

And a last word: the house is for sale again. The price has gone up though, it was listed in 2019 by Stephan M-LaForge at Berkshire Hathaway for $18 million. They reduced the price in 2024 to $5.9 million.