After purchasing a Titan II Missile Silo Complex in Arizona—decommissioned in 1983 and buried under concrete and dirt for more than 30 years—A Missouri couple packed up their lives and moved into a 5th wheel on the property.

With grandma, their children, spouses, and grandkids all on board, they set out to build something extraordinary: a 4-generation homestead atop a relic of the Cold War.

Using 12 forty-foot shipping containers, container construction expert Luke Crosswaithe designed and built a fourplex that now serves as the family’s primary residence — four apartments connected into one fortress-like home, perched above the massive subterranean military installation below.

But they didn’t stop there. As a family, they began excavating the missile silo itself. The government had sealed it shut—filling entrances with concrete and earth to prevent access.

After weeks of digging with an excavator, they finally hit solid structure. When they broke through and stepped inside for the first time, they uncovered a vast underground complex that would soon become something entirely unexpected: a cool summer living room beneath the Arizona desert.

Buried beneath tons of earth, the subterranean structure maintains a remarkably stable temperature, staying cool during Arizona’s intense summer heat and creating a naturally comfortable gathering space below the desert floor.