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Apocalypse Now? 5 Homes Equipped With Their Own Bomb Shelters

You’d never know it from the curb, but some of America’s most charming real estate listings harbor a Cold War–era secret: a bomb shelter in the backyard.

The bomb shelter craze hit its zenith in residential real estate in the 1960s, a decade that was bookended by the Soviet Union putting the first man into space, and the U.S. putting the first man on the moon. The science that powered the space race also built the intercontinental ballistic nuclear missile, which was capable of reaching low orbit and hitting a city more than 3,500 miles away.

American homeowners took matters into their own hands, digging out homemade bomb shelters in their backyards, or hiring companies that specialized in putting in bomb shelter kits. Today, many of those bomb shelters still exist, and pop up periodically in real estate listings.

It wasn’t as difficult as splitting the atom, but we’ve compiled a list of five totally normal-looking houses equipped with their own bomb shelters.

1046 S Garrison Ave, Carthage, MO

Price: $148,000
The fallout: This four-bedroom home is in the heart of Carthage, just a few blocks off historic Route 66. It includes a metal hatch in the backyard that opens to an underground shelter with bunk beds and a toilet. It looks as if the current homeowners are using the shelter as storage space.

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1421 19 Road, Fruita, CO

Price: $799,000
The fallout: This contemporary ranch home was built in 2005 on 10 acres. It has a horse barn, a riding arena—and a fully equipped underground bomb shelter. Colorado has historically been home to several missile sites, mostly concentrated on the state’s northern border with Nebraska.

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1215 E. College St, Mount Angel, OR

Price: $400,000
The fallout: Located about an hour south of Portland, Mount Angel is best known for its Oktoberfest, which routinely attracts 300,000 visitors to a town of a little over 3,000. The town loves Oktoberfest so much it ponied up the cash in 2006 to build America’s biggest glockenspiel. Less than a mile from that gargantuan glockenspiel is a 1962-built, six-bedroom home that includes a bomb shelter. The listing agent says the shelter could double as a wine cellar. We’ll drink to that idea!

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735 E. Parkdale Dr, San Bernardino, CA

Price: $450,000
The fallout: Built in 1962, at the start of the space race, this four-bedroom home retains much of its original charm, including double wooden doors, an in-ground pool, and an underground bomb shelter in the farthest corner of the backyard. Unlike more rudimentary bomb shelters, this one includes independent electrical and air systems.

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898 State Highway 420, Brasher Falls, NY

Price: $88,500
The fallout: The most affordable home with a bomb shelter on our list, this 1958 home in rural upstate New York is located less than an hour from the Canadian border. The two-bedroom home’s bomb shelter has been converted into a subterranean bar.

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