An Amenity-Filled Playpen

“There is no limit to what you can do. Some projects I’ve worked on have multiple levels below ground.”

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A Personal Gym and Health Spa

While most man caves might feature a multi-gym, cardio equipment, TV lounge, bar and spare bedroom, the sky’s the limit for high-net-worth owners like Kelce. Trost says additional amenities include full-scale racquet and basketball courts, whiskey rooms, bars, wine cellars, doomsday bunkers, movie theaters with stadium seating and swimming pools. Additional luxury add-ons include recording studios, saunas, massage rooms, cold plunge pools and steam showers.

The thirst for home improvement has meant tunneling down well below the standard basement level to include as many additional luxury features as the homeowner can imagine.

“I work on 12 to 15 residential projects a year and now all of these have lavish subterranean levels. A decade ago, only 20% of my clients wanted them,” Ignacio Rodriguez, the founder of IR Architects, told Mansion Global. 

Privacy Conscious

Not everyone welcomes the construction of luxury subterranean palaces – especially the owners of neighboring homes. Removing trees and digging so far down can cause issues of permeability, erosion and the possibility of collapsing foundations, especially in wet climates where the soil can become heavy and waterlogged. Still, the opportunity to keep opulent living spaces away from the public eye is an obvious draw for privacy-conscious homeowners.

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Practical Issues

Lower levels make particular sense when space is at a premium and homeowners are forced to build up or down. The trend has expanded in the U.S. from cities to suburbia. However, an iceberg house might not be feasible if your homesite is in an area with poor ground soil quality, excessive rocks or a history of earthquake activity. 

“These lower levels, which we never call basements, are a big trend in new construction luxury properties,” Eva Lindsell, the principal and CEO of Lindsell Interiors in Greenville, South Carolina, told Mansion Global. “Below-ground wellness retreats are particularly popular.” 

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