Growing number of people purchasing survivalist homes in rural Northwest

Photo by Kirk Siegler

A growing number of people are moving to the rural Northwest in search of survivalist homes, Kirk Siegler reports for NPR. "At first glance, real estate agent Theresa Mondale's listings don't sound too different from those of other agents trying to sell a piece of Montana paradise: 270 acres at the base of the Bitterroot Mountains completely surrounded by U.S. Forest Service land, stands of old growth fir and cedar trees, a spring with pure water. Only when you read on do you discover this isn't your average vacation cabin. One listing boasts of a modified bunker with a 'very secure' iron locking door on the property and a root cellar that could be turned into an alternative living situation. Another one mentions a yard with space to land a helicopter 'if the need is there.'"

"Welcome to the world of sustainable, survivalist real estate," Siegler writes. "There's a growing market for this kind of off-grid property. Mondale figures over the past six to eight years, sales of these survivalist properties have risen by 50 percent." Mondale said clients have cited fears about the financial system, societal collapse and fear of floods from global warming for wanting to purchase survivalist homes: "It seems like over the past few years, there's just this need, I don't want to say panic or frantic, but people feeling the need to be able to have someplace to go."

It's not as if the homes are simple cabins in the woods, Siegler writes. Some of the listings are for more than $1 million. One home includes a helicopter pad, "solar panels and inside, a backup generator, luxury bathrooms and a kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances." Mondale told Siegler, "Just because you're off-grid or being sustainable doesn't mean you have to be looking like the old hick miner." (Read more)