Andy Davis: Earth-Sheltered House Builder

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Andy and his wife in front of thier completed underground house.
Andy and his wife in front of thier completed underground house.
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Underground house loor plan.
Underground house loor plan.
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Roof cross section.
Roof cross section.
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The livingroom.
The livingroom.
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Crosssection of the underground Davis Cave.
Crosssection of the underground Davis Cave.
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Spa-like bathroom.
Spa-like bathroom.
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Splitting the wood that will heat the house during really cold spells.
Splitting the wood that will heat the house during really cold spells.
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A bedroom.
A bedroom.
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Andy gardening on the roof of the house.
Andy gardening on the roof of the house.
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Davis Caves business sign.
Davis Caves business sign.
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The front of  and entrance to the hobbit-like earth-sheltered house.
The front of  and entrance to the hobbit-like earth-sheltered house.

Well, the boys in Washington have finally figured out that the world will soon face a shortage of easy-to-plunder petroleum. Unfortunately, politicians being politicians the way they are, it’s already beginning to look as if we’d have been better off with no petroleum at all … instead of the confusing welter of bureaucratic red tape, laws, directives, taxes, reports, hearings, rebates, agencies, and other abominations of government with which said politicians now propose to “solve” the “problem”.

Gentlemen, gentlemen. We know you mean well … but, frankly, this particular situation is just too important to put into the hands of politicians. So why don’t you fellows just go speak to the Chamber of Commerce or play with your military appropriations or do something else innocuous while the Real Men roll up their sleeves and fix what ails us?

Real Men. Men like Andy Davis of Armington, Ill. … who — together with his wife, an 18-year-old son and three daughters (14, 12, and 11) — recently designed and built a beautiful, 1,200-square-foot, three-bedroom house for $15,000, which costs only $1.29 a year to heat! And, guys, Andy did it all without your red tape, laws, directives, taxes, reports, hearings, rebates, agencies, and other abominations of government … as Travis Brock recently learned during a visit to the Davis home.

Andy, this is really a great house … far nicer than I thought it’d be.

That seems to be the general reaction. People come in here expecting … well, I don’t know what they expect to see … one of the old frontier dugouts, maybe. And our visitors always wind up using the same words over and over again: great, beautiful, remarkable, unbelievable, fantastic. I guess that “unbelievable” and “fantastic” are the two words used the most. A lot of people have just never thought about covering the walls and ceilings of their homes with something simple like rocks, and they’re genuinely amazed at how beautiful it can be.

  • Published on Jul 1, 1977
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