Atomitat (1962) was an underground bunker-home in

Plainview, Texas Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, Hale County, Texas, United States. The population was 20,187 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Plainview began when Z. T. Maxwell and Edwin Lowden Lowe establ ...

, designed by architect Jay Swayze. The name of the home came from the combination of the words "atomic" and "habitat". It was the first home in the U.S. to meet

civil defense Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: Risk management, prevention, mitigation, prepara ...

specifications for a nuclear shelter.

History

Architect Jay Swayze stated that the idea for the Atomitat was born when he attended a civil defense discussion on fallout shelters. The home completed in 1962 and it was designed during the

cold war The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

when Americans feared nuclear war. Swayze said that the Atomitat was designed to be an atomic habitat which met the civil defense specifications. The cost of the furnished Atomitat with two vehicles was estimated to be $135,000. The Swayze's also stated that because the Atomitat home was secure against damaging weather, their home insurance rate was about 87.5% less than the rate of an above ground home. In 1967 the Atomitat was featured in a

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propaganda film. The film was part of a series showing scenes of American life, and it would be shown in Arab countries.

Design

Architect Jay Swayze compared his design to a "ship in a bottle". There was a reinforced steel and concrete shell and it was underground and it is under of soil. It is in size. The bunker had 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and windows throughout which were meant to mimic outdoor scenes and outdoor lighting. The home was outfitted with an emergency generator and sewage system. The above ground structure was a garage with a door between two large garage doors. The door led to the shelter which had 2 large steel lined things with lead to protect against radiation. The house was designed to make the occupant feel as if they were above ground. Lights could be made to mimic the different parts of the day and there was an space between the living space and the outer wall which had a flow of air. This allowed an occupant to open a window and feel a breeze. The house was occupied by the same family for 35 years. The couple who owned it decided to sell it in 2002 because it was too large now that their family had grown up.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atomitat 1962 introductions Air raid shelters in the United States Cold War sites Survivalism Radiation protection Nuclear fallout