Finance: 50 photos show how obsessed the wealthy are with underground mansions

When building up just isn't possible — and 'no' isn't in your vocabulary — building down is an (expensive) option for the super rich.

Multi-million-dollar homes for the 1 percent are hardly eyebrow-raising — unless they happen to extend stories beneath the earth's surface.

Multi-million-dollar homes for the 1 percent are hardly eyebrow-raising.
They are, however, when they extend stories beneath the earth's surface.
Here are 50 photos that show how obsessed the wealthy are with subterranean homes.

For the wealthy, owning a luxury home is no rare feat.

But even for the some of the world's wealthiest individuals, underground luxury mansions are an extravagant expense.

But, whether these mansions have been fashioned out of a desire for pure opulence, a lack of space, or paranoia (yes, luxury bomb shelters are a thing), for some, they are a must. These photos show just how obsessed the super rich are with underground mansions.

Check it out:

At the St. Moritz ski resort in Switzerland sits a lavish, seven-story home, dubbed The Lonsdaleite, or The Ice Palace.

Source: Business Insider, Vimeo, and Vimeo

It was listed on the market for $185 million last fall. Realtor Senada Adzem told CNBC that the home was "designed to make a billionaire's jaw drop."

Source: Business Insider and CNBC

The home's great room is covered in 35-foot floor-to-ceiling windows on one wall...

Source: CNBC

...and mink fur on the other wall.

Source: CNBC

Finance: 50 photos show how obsessed the wealthy are with underground mansions

Check it out:

At the St. Moritz ski resort in Switzerland sits a lavish, seven-story home, dubbed The Lonsdaleite, or The Ice Palace.

It was listed on the market for $185 million last fall. Realtor Senada Adzem told CNBC that the home was "designed to make a billionaire's jaw drop."

The home's great room is covered in 35-foot floor-to-ceiling windows on one wall...

...and mink fur on the other wall.

There's also a library with red velvet furnishings.

An egg-themed breakfast nook is on the main level as well.

Its walls are decked out in 24 karat gold...

...and a $145,000 egg-shaped sculpture hangs from the ceiling.

You might think this is your average luxury castle built for the everyday billionaire — that is, until you head downstairs...

...which is where the real extravagance begins. The underground amenities include a home theatre bedecked in red...

...as well as a wine cellar.

And perhaps the home's most stunning feature is the underground lake.

Owners and guests can go for a swim in Swarovski crystal-lit waters.

Guests can admire Venetian artwork on the ceiling as they swim.

Another prized gem of the house is the private ski den.

Owners can ski in and out of a private lift to access the powdery slopes of the Swiss Alps.

Back inside, a home spa awaits after a long day of skiing.

Owners can also take it easy in a lounge...

...or in the Himalayan salt room.

An inviting Turkish bath also awaits...

...as does a high-tech shower equipped with controls that can change the lighting and color schemes.

There are other underground homes that match this Swiss castle's opulence.

Like one in Rolling Hills, California, for instance.

This colossal, luxury, 7.4-acre Spanish Hacienda took 17 years to construct, and five of its six stories are underground.

The home is the brainchild of John Z. Blazevich, CEO of Viva Food Group, who circumvented zoning codes prohibiting home expansion by building down into the ground.

The infamous underground mansion, dubbed Hacienda de la Paz, spans 51,000 square feet and sports nine bedrooms, 25 bathrooms, and a six-car garage.

One of the estate's two tennis courts is on one of the five underground levels.

When owners aren't using it for a court, it doubles as a ballroom that can accommodate 350 dinner guests and a dance floor.

A Hamam, a traditional Moorish-style bath spa, also sits underground and is one of the site's two pools. The interior is hand-crafted from imported marble and sandstone, and 24-karat gold Venetian tiles line the space.

Skipping around the estate is a breeze — elevators take owners from floor to floor...

...like to the wine cellar, for example...

...or back into the open air, where the estate's extravagance is just as unparalleled. An outdoor clay court is lined with comfy seating for spectators.

And why not throw another pool into the mix?

While Hacienda de la Paz was born out of a desire for luxurious living quarters...

...other underground homes were fashioned out of the paranoia of their owners.

Entrepreneur Jerry Henderson and his wife, Mary, built "The Underground House" in 1978 in the midst of the Cold War as a luxury hideaway bomb shelter.

The property sits 26 feet below the surface with two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a six-foot-deep pool, putting green, and a spa.

And though it's protected from the elements above, owners are still afforded sweeping landscape views, thanks to full-sized murals that line the walls.

The Hendersons passed away in the 1980s, leading to the property's eventual foreclosure, before its current owner swept it up and spent more than $1 million renovating it.

The Hendersons paid around $10 million in constructing the home in the late 1970s. That's about $40 million in today's money.

For a long time the property remained a bit of a mystery to its neighbors. But the owner recently opened it to the public during a gala.

On the other side of the country sits another luxurious subsurface bomb shelter in Kansas as part of a project dubbed Survival Condo.

The $20 million property spans 15 floors underground and is housed inside an old missile silo. The silo, like Las Vegas' Underground House, was built in the midst of the Cold War.

The project offers up 12 single-family homes to homeowners wishing for a surefire way of preparing for potential catastrophic events.

A full-floor unit spans 1,820 square feet and can fit six to 10 people. Buyers shell out $3 million for one, which includes three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, and a great room.

In place of a natural views, the windows are outfitted with screens that show live footage of the landscape outside.

More lavish amenities are also included, like a home theatre...

...a 75-foot-long swimming pool with a water slide...

...and a gym.

And if staying fit with gym equipment isn't your forte, there's also a rock climbing wall.

Family pets are also invited — there's a park in the compound for dog walks.

Not bad for a doomsday shelter.

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