Vegas’ Secret 1970s Bomb Shelter Could Soon Be Turned into Museum and Event Venue

The Underground House, a unique luxury bomb shelter hidden beneath Las Vegas, is poised for a transformation that could open its retro doors to the public. Built in the 1970s by Avon executive and preservation visionary Jerry Henderson, the 16,936-square-foot property features a 14,000-square-foot subterranean residence designed to offer survival with style during the Cold War era.

Visit this modest suburban home, and you'll discover a basement time capsule of 1970s leisure, complete with an indoor swimming pool, two spas, a four-hole putting green, a dance floor with a disco ball, and a full wet bar. Faux-sky murals, pink carpet, and stone fireplaces help complete the immersive illusion of daylight and affluence - what the wealthy survivalist generation would call "luxury."

Now owned by the Stasis Foundation, founded by Henderson and led by Jerry Henderson Jr., a biomedical entrepreneur and longevity advocate, the property may soon serve a new purpose. The foundation proposes converting the site into a museum and event space for occasional banquets, receptions, and educational programming. The museum would showcase the house's prominent Cold War era attributes, in addition to future-related exhibitions concerning preservation and survival technologies, which would align with the broader scope of the foundation's mission. 

Currently, the caretaker is maintaining the site full-time with the intent of preservation. The house has been opened for periodic private tour events and artistic activities, but the foundation's new plan would sanction the site's potential for access to the public as a cultural and historic site.

On Wednesday, the County Commission considered proposed zoning changes for the Underground House property, located at the corner of Spencer Street, Flamingo Road, and Eastern Avenue, about 5 minutes from the Strip, but a world away in aesthetics and functionality. If approved, the zoning changes would be a major milestone for the iconic site, potentially making the Underground House from a weird private quirk into a remembered public artifact of American survivalist ingenuity.