The Cave House: The Incredible Story of the Man Who Built His Own Underground World

This house isn't small—it's over 5,000 square feet. And it's not just an unusual dwelling... It's a real cave. And it was created by one man. This is the story of Grant Johnson's underground home and farm. When Grant was very young, he moved to Moab, Utah, looking for a place to put down roots. To pay for college, he took a job as a miner—skills that later enabled him to create his dream home inside a rock. By 1980, he had saved enough to buy 40 acres of pristine land near Boulder, Utah. He settled on the property in a trailer, without running water or electricity, and lived there for about 25 years, learning to grow his own food and live off the land. Getting there wasn't easy. Over time, Grant began leading horseback tours around his land. When the area became the interior section of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996, he was already dreaming of a cliff house. And that's when he made the decision: blast the rock and carve out a cave that would one day become his home. The work took eight long years. But even after the excavation was complete, another challenge awaited him—developing the interior space. By the time Grant was finally able to move into his cave house, he had already found solutions for all his daily needs: pumping water from a nearby pond, providing electricity with a turbine, using only satellite internet. His property is completely self-sufficient: Grant grows vegetables and raises pigs, horses, and cows. Grant loves music, sings, and plays the harmonica, so he set up a separate room in the cave house for jam sessions. Over time, Grant realized that 5,000 square feet was too much space for one person. He divided the cave into zones and converted some of the rooms into two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartments. He began renting them out on Airbnb so people could see and experience the uniqueness of his work firsthand. The story of Grant Johnson's cave home is a lifelong journey. A journey filled with hard work, astonishing perseverance, and a genuine love for the land and his dream.