“Underground” spaces that are extremely well designed are very rare. How can one renovate such a dark space so magnificently? Today I am going to show you the top three best-designed underground spaces in the United States.

The Greenbrier
White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
Talk about a 5-star bunker. The Greenbrier was a bomb shelter created by the government at the Greenbrier hotel in 1961. Located 720 foot below, the former “Project Greek Island” comprises a 25-ton blast door, decontamination chambers, a hospital clinic, power plant, and a 6-month supply of food and pharmaceuticals. If you wanted the best place to stay under a nuclear attack this would be a living luxury resort.

Mansueto Library
Chicago, Illinois
The glass-paneled domed top of this University of Chicago library sticks out above ground. Students do need some natural light to study! Just below the glass dome is a five-story book depository. An automated system delivers any of the 3.5 million books in an average of 5 minutes. It’s basically a library run by robot librarians! There’s even a freezer set at negative 40 degrees to clean wet, moldy, or insect-infested books. This place is the coolest place to read!

Spa Terra  
Napa, California
The Meritage Resort’s 9,000 square-feet spa is located in its “Estate Cave. This spa is filled with steam grottos, soaking pools, waterfalls, treatment rooms, and whirlpools located 40 foot below the hillside. This Mediterranean atmosphere is filled with mosaics, wrought-iron fixtures and earth tones.

You can read about more of the best-designed spaces here. See some more pictures below!