Billionaire bunkers: How the 1% are preparing for the apocalypse
Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Survival Condo, Kansas – Designed to serve as a "luxury second home" that's also a nuclear-hardened bunker, Hall's company provides military-level security, on top of the protection provided by the facility's 9-foot thick walls and 161-foot protective dome. Each unit also comes with a five-year supply of food for each resident.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Safe House, Poland – This two-story concrete house, designed by KWK Promes, in Warsaw, Poland, offers maximum security with movable walls, providing a safety zone.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Safe House, Poland – The 2.8-meter high mobile shutters open up to 180 degrees and a roll-down gate, made of white anodized aluminum, can also function as a projection screen.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Safe House, Poland – The thick outer walls, together with its hybrid heat system, accumulate energy during the day and at night.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Genesis – Colorado-based architecture firm F9 Productions devised a series of homes, called DoomsDay Dwellings, that are meant to stand up to various disasters. The Genesis House is lowered into the ground on a hydraulic pump and covered with a blast resistant cap.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Aristocrat – Rising S Company, a manufacturer of safe rooms, storm shelters, and steel underground bunkers, offers several high-end models, including the Aristocrat, which is priced at $8.35 million. The design incorporates a games room, bowling alley, gun range, garage and a pool.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Coloradoan – Named after Colorado, known for frequent forest fires, The Coloradoan's defense systems include Fire Walls, Defensible Space and Double Fire Resistant Vents. Exterior walls made of an insulated concrete core can stand high temperature of up to 1,177 degrees.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Trident Lakes, Texas – Currently being built in Fannin County, Texas, by Vintuary Holdings, Trident Lakes is part country club and part survival community. It will offer condos that are 90% earth sheltered with above ground amenities, such as a golf course, equestrian center and lagoons. The subterranean offerings include communal greenhouses and a DNA vault.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Silo Home, New York – The Silo Home is located above a former missile storage facility.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Oppidum, Czech Republic – The demand for designer bunkers has grown rapidly
in recent years.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Oppidum, Czech Republic – The Oppidum in the Czech Republic is being billed as "the largest billionaire bunker in the world."
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Oppidum, Czech Republic – Planned amenities include a pool and an underground garden that features simulated natural light.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Oppidum, Czech Republic – The top-secret facility, once a joint project between the former Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia), was built over 10 years beginning in 1984.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Vivos Europa One, Germany – This luxury shelter, billed as a "modern day Noah's Ark," is built beneath a 400-foot tall mountain and offers 227,904 square feet of living space. Converted from a Cold War-era munitions storage facility, these individual residences can be customized with a private pool, a theater and a gym.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Vivos xPoint, South Dakota – The Vivos xPoint bunkers are located in South Dakota, They are currently being converted to accommodate about 5,000 people.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Vivos xPoint, South Dakota – There are 575 bunkers in the works, and each bunker once served as an Army Munitions Depot.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Vivos xPoint, South Dakota – The interiors of each bunker are outfitted by the owners at a cost of between $25,000 to $200,000 each.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Vivos xPoint, South Dakota – Each residence can be customized with high-end finishes like LED screens that give the illusion of skylights and windows.
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Survival Condo, Kansas – Developer Larry Hall transformed this abandoned Atlas missile silo into luxury condos. Each residence is equipped with stainless steel appliances, LED lighting, washers and dryers and a home automation system. Owners also have access to a pool, rock climbing wall, movie theater, dog park and arcade.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Survival Condo, Kansas – Designed to serve as a "luxury second home" that's also a nuclear-hardened bunker, Hall's company provides military-level security, on top of the protection provided by the facility's 9-foot thick walls and 161-foot protective dome. Each unit also comes with a five-year supply of food for each resident.
Hide Caption
11 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Safe House, Poland – This two-story concrete house, designed by KWK Promes, in Warsaw, Poland, offers maximum security with movable walls, providing a safety zone.
Hide Caption
12 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Safe House, Poland – The 2.8-meter high mobile shutters open up to 180 degrees and a roll-down gate, made of white anodized aluminum, can also function as a projection screen.
Hide Caption
13 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Safe House, Poland – The thick outer walls, together with its hybrid heat system, accumulate energy during the day and at night.
Hide Caption
14 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Genesis – Colorado-based architecture firm F9 Productions devised a series of homes, called DoomsDay Dwellings, that are meant to stand up to various disasters. The Genesis House is lowered into the ground on a hydraulic pump and covered with a blast resistant cap.
Hide Caption
15 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Aristocrat – Rising S Company, a manufacturer of safe rooms, storm shelters, and steel underground bunkers, offers several high-end models, including the Aristocrat, which is priced at $8.35 million. The design incorporates a games room, bowling alley, gun range, garage and a pool.
Hide Caption
16 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Coloradoan – Named after Colorado, known for frequent forest fires, The Coloradoan's defense systems include Fire Walls, Defensible Space and Double Fire Resistant Vents. Exterior walls made of an insulated concrete core can stand high temperature of up to 1,177 degrees.
Hide Caption
17 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Trident Lakes, Texas – Currently being built in Fannin County, Texas, by Vintuary Holdings, Trident Lakes is part country club and part survival community. It will offer condos that are 90% earth sheltered with above ground amenities, such as a golf course, equestrian center and lagoons. The subterranean offerings include communal greenhouses and a DNA vault.
Hide Caption
18 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Silo Home, New York – The Silo Home is located above a former missile storage facility.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Oppidum, Czech Republic – The demand for designer bunkers has grown rapidly in recent years.
Hide Caption
1 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Oppidum, Czech Republic – The Oppidum in the Czech Republic is being billed as "the largest billionaire bunker in the world."
Hide Caption
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Oppidum, Czech Republic – Planned amenities include a pool and an underground garden that features simulated natural light.
Hide Caption
3 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
The Oppidum, Czech Republic – The top-secret facility, once a joint project between the former Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia), was built over 10 years beginning in 1984.
Hide Caption
4 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Vivos Europa One, Germany – This luxury shelter, billed as a "modern day Noah's Ark," is built beneath a 400-foot tall mountain and offers 227,904 square feet of living space. Converted from a Cold War-era munitions storage facility, these individual residences can be customized with a private pool, a theater and a gym.
Hide Caption
5 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Vivos xPoint, South Dakota – The Vivos xPoint bunkers are located in South Dakota, They are currently being converted to accommodate about 5,000 people.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Vivos xPoint, South Dakota – There are 575 bunkers in the works, and each bunker once served as an Army Munitions Depot.
Hide Caption
7 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Vivos xPoint, South Dakota – The interiors of each bunker are outfitted by the owners at a cost of between $25,000 to $200,000 each.
Hide Caption
8 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Vivos xPoint, South Dakota – Each residence can be customized with high-end finishes like LED screens that give the illusion of skylights and windows.
Hide Caption
9 of 19

Photos: Inside the world's most luxurious doomsday dugouts
Survival Condo, Kansas – Developer Larry Hall transformed this abandoned Atlas missile silo into luxury condos. Each residence is equipped with stainless steel appliances, LED lighting, washers and dryers and a home automation system. Owners also have access to a pool, rock climbing wall, movie theater, dog park and arcade.
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Say "doomsday bunker" and most people would imagine a concrete room
filled with cots and canned goods.
The threat of global annihilation may feel as present as it did during the
Cold War, but today's high-security shelters could not be more different
from their 20th-century counterparts.
A number of companies around the world are meeting a growing demand for
structures that protect from any risk, whether it's a global pandemic, an
asteroid, or World War III -- while also delivering luxurious amenities.
"Your father or grandfather's bunker was not very comfortable," says Robert
that builds and manages high-end shelters around the world.
"They were gray. They were metal, like
a ship or something military. And the
truth is mankind cannot survive long-term
in such a Spartan, bleak environment."
Doomsday demand
Many of the world's elite, including hedge fund managers, sports stars and tech executives (Bill Gates is rumored to have bunkers at all his properties) have chosen to design their own secret shelters to house their families and staff.
Gary Lynch, general manager of Texas-based Rising S Company, says 2016 sales for their custom high-end underground bunkers grew 700% compared to 2015, while overall sales have grown 300% since the November US presidential election alone.
The company's plate steel bunkers, which are designed to last for generations, can hold a minimum of one year's worth of food per resident and withstand earthquakes.
But while some want to bunker down alone, others prefer to ride out the apocalypse in a community setting that offers an experience a bit closer to the real world.

Photos: Survival chic
Comfort in Cologne – Luczak Architekten created a vibrant residential block in Cologne from a ground-level world war two shelter. The 17 loft-style apartments feature large windows and terraces, as well as flexible floor plans, internal atriums and gardens.
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Photos: Survival chic
The mothership – Vivos Europa One, in Rothenstein, is one of Germany's largest repurposing projects. The 76-acre former Soviet bunker is capable of withstanding a nuclear blast, a direct plane crash or biological attack. It is being transformed into 34 five-star apartments, starting at 2,500 sq ft, which aim to protect the super-rich from any forthcoming apocalypse.
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Photos: Survival chic
Survive in style – Property developer Stefan F. Höglmaier converted an air-raid shelter in Munich into apartments, reserving three floors for himself.
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Photos: Survival chic
Re-imagining – The multi-million Euro transformation involved carving windows into concrete walls and installing a glass penthouse on the roof.
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Photos: Survival chic
Enhanced aesthetics – To overcome ghosts of the past, the developer gave one floor a 1920s theme, while another draws on the 1960s.
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Photos: Survival chic
Haunted house – The bunker before transformation.
"No one was interested in doing anything with it," says the developer. "But we should not erase history."
"No one was interested in doing anything with it," says the developer. "But we should not erase history."
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Photos: Survival chic
'Rat tribe' – While bunker developments in the West are typically pitched at the luxury end of the housing market, re-purposed shelters provide basic subsistence accommodation for up to one million people below Beijing, in China, dubbed the "rat tribe".
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Photos: Survival chic
Underground cities – Annette Kim, professor of spatial analysis at the University of Southern California, says the shelters offer better conditions than many properties for low-income workers above ground, and better locations close to the city center.
She expects the most populous cities to pursue urban planning underground.
She expects the most populous cities to pursue urban planning underground.
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Photos: Survival chic
Five-star shelter – A secret bunker in South-East London, built to protect key government employees during a nuclear winter, has been transformed into a $4 million luxury residence.
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Photos: Survival chic
Under the radar – The original bunker housed a map room, advanced communications kit, and an independent fuel supply protected by five feet of concrete.
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Photos: Survival chic
New dawn – The two-year conversion of the property saw the concrete replaced with a retractable glass roof, with windows carved out for five bedrooms on the lower level.
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Photos: Survival chic
Niche taste – "It's a very individual type of property that is not going to suit everybody," says Steven May, of JDM Estate Agents, which is managing the property. "This is for someone looking for something a bit different in a quiet location."
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Photos: Survival chic
Taking no chances – Retail firm Survival Condos offers refuge at a re-purposed missile silo in Kansas, United States. The luxury apartments here are stacked underground and protected by blast doors designed to withstand explosions.
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Photos: Survival chic
Bunker bunks – Apartments cost up to $3 million, with room for around 70 people in the complex, which includes a gym, cinema and climbing wall.
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Photos: Survival chic
Self-sufficient – The complex is equipped with fuel generators, so occupants can survive in a post-apocalyptic scenario.
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Photos: Survival chic
Recyled – The Kansas site was originally a missile silo built during the Cold War. Survival Condos is constructing a second complex close by.
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Photos: Survival chic
Back to life – Germany has re-purposed thousands of bomb shelters. Architect Rainer Mielke has transformed at least a dozen in his native Bremen, and lives in one himself. In many cases, the sparse concrete aesthetic is retained.
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Photos: Survival chic
Comfort in Cologne – Luczak Architekten created a vibrant residential block in Cologne from a ground-level world war two shelter. The 17 loft-style apartments feature large windows and terraces, as well as flexible floor plans, internal atriums and gardens.
Hide Caption
10 of 17

Photos: Survival chic
The mothership – Vivos Europa One, in Rothenstein, is one of Germany's largest repurposing projects. The 76-acre former Soviet bunker is capable of withstanding a nuclear blast, a direct plane crash or biological attack. It is being transformed into 34 five-star apartments, starting at 2,500 sq ft, which aim to protect the super-rich from any forthcoming apocalypse.
Hide Caption
11 of 17

Photos: Survival chic
Survive in style – Property developer Stefan F. Höglmaier converted an air-raid shelter in Munich into apartments, reserving three floors for himself.
Hide Caption
12 of 17

Photos: Survival chic
Re-imagining – The multi-million Euro transformation involved carving windows into concrete walls and installing a glass penthouse on the roof.
Hide Caption
13 of 17

Photos: Survival chic
Enhanced aesthetics – To overcome ghosts of the past, the developer gave one floor a 1920s theme, while another draws on the 1960s.
Hide Caption
14 of 17

Photos: Survival chic
Haunted house – The bunker before transformation.
"No one was interested in doing anything with it," says the developer. "But we should not erase history."
"No one was interested in doing anything with it," says the developer. "But we should not erase history."
Hide Caption
15 of 17

Photos: Survival chic
'Rat tribe' – While bunker developments in the West are typically pitched at the luxury end of the housing market, re-purposed shelters provide basic subsistence accommodation for up to one million people below Beijing, in China, dubbed the "rat tribe".
Hide Caption
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Photos: Survival chic
Underground cities – Annette Kim, professor of spatial analysis at the University of Southern California, says the shelters offer better conditions than many properties for low-income workers above ground, and better locations close to the city center.
She expects the most populous cities to pursue urban planning underground.
She expects the most populous cities to pursue urban planning underground.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Survival chic
Five-star shelter – A secret bunker in South-East London, built to protect key government employees during a nuclear winter, has been transformed into a $4 million luxury residence.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Survival chic
Under the radar – The original bunker housed a map room, advanced communications kit, and an independent fuel supply protected by five feet of concrete.
Hide Caption
2 of 17

Photos: Survival chic
New dawn – The two-year conversion of the property saw the concrete replaced with a retractable glass roof, with windows carved out for five bedrooms on the lower level.
Hide Caption
3 of 17

Photos: Survival chic
Niche taste – "It's a very individual type of property that is not going to suit everybody," says Steven May, of JDM Estate Agents, which is managing the property. "This is for someone looking for something a bit different in a quiet location."
Hide Caption
4 of 17

Photos: Survival chic
Taking no chances – Retail firm Survival Condos offers refuge at a re-purposed missile silo in Kansas, United States. The luxury apartments here are stacked underground and protected by blast doors designed to withstand explosions.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Survival chic
Bunker bunks – Apartments cost up to $3 million, with room for around 70 people in the complex, which includes a gym, cinema and climbing wall.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Survival chic
Self-sufficient – The complex is equipped with fuel generators, so occupants can survive in a post-apocalyptic scenario.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Survival chic
Recyled – The Kansas site was originally a missile silo built during the Cold War. Survival Condos is constructing a second complex close by.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Survival chic
Back to life – Germany has re-purposed thousands of bomb shelters. Architect Rainer Mielke has transformed at least a dozen in his native Bremen, and lives in one himself. In many cases, the sparse concrete aesthetic is retained.
Hide Caption
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Developers of community shelters like these often acquire decommissioned military bunkers and missile silos built by the United States or Soviet governments -- sites that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build today.
The fortified structures are designed to withstand a nuclear strike and come equipped with power systems, water purification systems, blast valves, and Nuclear-Biological-Chemical (NBC) air filtration.
Most include food supplies for a year or more, and many have hydroponic gardens to supplement the rations. The developers also work to create well-rounded communities with a range of skills necessary for long-term survival, from doctors to teachers.
Vicino says Vivos received a flurry of interest in its shelters around the 2016 election from both liberals and conservatives, and completely sold out of spaces in its community shelters in the past few weeks.
Designer ark
One of those shelters, Vivos xPoint, is near the Black Hills of South Dakota, and consists of 575 military bunkers that served as an Army Munitions Depot until 1967.
Presently being converted into a facility that will accommodate about 5,000 people, the interiors of each bunker are outfitted by the owners at a cost of between $25,000 to $200,000 each. The price depends on whether they want a minimalist space or a home with high-end finishes.
The compound itself will be equipped with all the comforts of a small town, including a community theater, classrooms, hydroponic gardens, a medical clinic, a spa and a gym.

Vivos Europa One in Germany
For clients looking for something further afield and more luxurious, the company also offers Vivos Europa One, billed as a "modern day Noah's Ark" in a former Cold War-era munitions storage facility in Germany.
The structure, which was carved out of solid bedrock, offers 34 private residences, each starting at 2,500 square feet, with the option to add a second story for a total of 5,000 square feet.
The units will be delivered empty and each owner will have the space renovated to suit their own tastes and needs, choosing from options that include screening rooms, private pools and gyms.
Vicino compares the individual spaces to underground yachts, and even recommends that owners commission the same builders and designers that worked on their actual vessels.
"Most of these people have high-end yachts, so they already have the relationship and they know the taste, fit, and finish that they want," he explains.
The vast complex includes a tram system to transport residents throughout the shelter, where they can visit its restaurants, theater, coffee shops, pool and game areas.
"We have all the comforts of home, but also the comforts that you expect when you leave your home," Vicino adds.

Survival Condo in Kansas
Nuclear hardened homes
Developer Larry Hall's Survival Condo in Kansas utilizes two abandoned Atlas missile silos built by the US Army Corps of Engineers to house warheads during the early 1960s.
"Our clients are sold on the unique advantage of having a luxury second home that also happens to be a nuclear hardened bunker," says Hall, who is already starting work on a second Survival Condo in another silo on site.
"This aspect allows our clients to invest in an appreciating asset as opposed to an expense."
The Survival Condo has several different layouts, from a 900-square-foot half-floor residence to a two-level, 3,600-square-foot penthouse that starts at $4.5 million.
Owners have access to their homes and the facilities at anytime, whether a disaster is imminent or they just want to get away from it all, and the complex features a pool, general store, theater, bar and library.
The condo association sets the rules for the community, and during an emergency, owners would be required to work four hours a day.
Long-term luxury
If you prefer to spend the end of days solo, or at least with hand-selected family and friends, you may prefer to consider The Oppidum in the Czech Republic, which is being billed as "the largest billionaire bunker in the world."
The top-secret facility, once a joint project between the former Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia), was built over 10 years beginning in 1984.

An interior shot of the Oppidum in Czech Republic
The site now includes both an above-ground estate and a 77,000-square-foot underground component. While the final product will be built out to the owner's specifications, the initial renderings include an underground garden, swimming pool, spa, cinema and wine vault.
While many might see the luxury amenities at these facilities as unnecessary, the developers argue that these features are critical to survival.
"These shelters are long-term, a year or more," Vicino says. "It had better be comfortable."




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