The Daily Something: Real estate

I keep trying to write lengthy entries about lengthy things, and somehow I get about halfway through and want to fall over. So.

@BoingBoing: Invincible Space Lair for sale

A nuke-proof space observation station in Carmel Valley, Ca., is up for sale. The asking price: $2,950,000. Able to take a 5 megaton blast, the Jamesburg Earth Station was built in the 1960s and was the first to receive live images from the moon during 1969's Apollo landing. Also included in the deal is 160 acres of land, an 11-storey antenna able to broadcast worldwide, a helipad, and a 3-bedroom home.

I am fascinated by the idea of secret lairs and desperately want one. I mean, there's a number of directions you can take the concept in, but I don't think I'd like a lair in space. A lair with a space theme, there's something to be said for that. Also for the nuke-proofing. I also think underwater lairs are pretty cool in theory, but I don't know about actually living in one--would you get claustrophobic? Would the pressure be bad for you? Would it get damp? There's the idea of the gothic mountaintop lair (*THUNDERCLAP*), but I don't know how nuke-proof that really is; we have to think about this in terms of modern day-to-day living. Ozymandias had a pretty good lair in Watchmen, but I have to think that the Antarctic must get inconvenient after a while--there are no runs to the corner store at the South Pole. I think, if we are going to be really serious about this, that I am somewhere between a mountain on a tropical island (solitude, lush scenery, fruity drinks; tropics might be too hot for my taste) or a downtown superhero Baxter Building-type setup (convenient location, good shopping; first thing to get attacked when the supervillains come). Hm. I am open to suggestions.

Tags: the daily something

46 comments — :

( 46 comments — Leave a comment )

leucocrystal

2012-01-07 03:54 am (UTC)

Holy crap, I grew up in Carmel Valley and had no idea such a thing existed so near to me.

...Now I'm kind of wondering whether it might've been a neighbor. (Pretty unlikely, but..)

Edited at 2012-01-07 03:55 am (UTC)

malsperanza

2012-01-10 02:54 am (UTC)

You just never looked closely enough at those hippies over at Tassajara hot springs. Those tents? Cleverly disguised hatch portals into the bunker. And as for the bread ...

syrenssong

2012-01-07 04:00 am (UTC)

You could always go all out and have a couple. Your primary, every-day secret lair and your vacation secret lair. And it would serve as a back-up primary secret lair in case your every-day secret lair was discovered/attacked/had to be fumigated.

la_donna_pietra

2012-01-07 04:19 am (UTC)

It is so common to only have one lair, after all.

(no subject) —

vnfan — Expand

elbales — Expand

2012-01-07 04:01 am (UTC)

I am partial to the idea of an urban lair, possibly under an abandoned warehouse that maybe has a shell company running to distract any potential interest.

maleficently

2012-01-07 04:03 am (UTC)

Now I have the urge to reinstall and play Evil Genius all over again.

cmdr_zoom

2012-01-07 05:15 am (UTC)

Submit.

Oh, and reinstall the game, too. ;)

maleficently — Expand

goldenusagi

2012-01-07 04:12 am (UTC)

I'd settle for a house in the middle of nowhere that has a secret basement. Or a Victorian house with lots of small twisting hallways and so many little rooms that it's impossible to figure out the floorplan for upon just walking through it, so there is room for secret rooms. Oh, and a secret staircase! I'm all for the 'hiding in plain sight' lairs. :)

edoraslass

2012-01-07 05:45 am (UTC)

My uncle built a secret room into his house. The library was paneled, and between two sets of built-in bookshelves was a big space on the wall where a very large picture was hung. Of course the space was actually a door, hinged on the inside, with the edge lined up with the ridge in the panel. You pushed it in and ta-da! A whole office!

I understand that the people who bought the house took the door off and just made the room visible all the time. I don't understand why you'd do that!

goldenusagi — Expand

shannonsequitur

2012-01-07 04:15 am (UTC)

Several years ago, I dreamed that I was watching a comedy sketch about a real estate agent showing evil lairs to supervillains. If anyone else wants to take the concept and run with it, I would love to see the result.

madripoor_rose

2012-01-07 04:21 am (UTC)

Well, in DC Comics there is The Broker.....

http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/626982.html

litlover12 — Expand

I always did love the Beetle's Nest....

"You have a beetle-cave?"

"Technically it's a sub-basement. And I mostly use it for storage...."

particle_person

If I'm really honest, I want a tree house. In, like, a sequoia. The house part would be named Non Sequoia. (I really wanted to make that pun.) Not only do you have a relatively compact, livable house that doesn't require an army of minions just to DUST, you can rig up a pole to slide down when you want to go down and a wood-and-rope platform elevator for the trip up. You aren't too far from civilization. No water pressure issues. You are SAVING A TREE. (I picture this being done in an ecologically sensitive way.)

2012-01-07 04:28 am (UTC)

TBH, the natural fortress shape for Alabamans is the Dome Home, because they are hurricane resistant.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/11/national/11florida.html?scp=1&sq=dome%20home%20hurricane&st=cse

la_donna_pietra — Expand

ejia_arath03

2012-01-07 04:25 am (UTC)

How lovely! I would so get my superviallin on with a lair like that.

hells_mells

2012-01-07 04:30 am (UTC)

I would like my secret lair to be a combination of this: http://www.jul.com/ and this: http://tinyurl.com/ckx3q2

eruvadhril

2012-01-07 04:51 am (UTC)

I'd hold off on the secret lair until we sort out teleport technology. That way it can be in a remote location like a tropical island or a mountaintop, but you'd still be able to get to the shops when you need to. I suppose you could have a helicopter or jet on the premises, but it'd still take you a fair while to get anywhere.

elbales

2012-01-07 06:03 am (UTC)

How about a secret suburban lair? It could be located in a cul-de-sac that... uh...

I got nothin'. Probably because I am super-duper sleep deprived.

flamingo_bandit

2012-01-07 06:07 am (UTC)

One of the things I like about CBS's Person of Interest is that they set up their secret lair in an abandoned library. Convenient downtown location for coffee runs and getting to the bad guy; innocuous and easily overlooked by those pursuing Our Heroes; and perhaps most importantly, there are books available during any downtime. :D

foresthouse

2012-01-09 05:05 am (UTC)

Oh my goodness, yes! A Library Lair. Perfect.

mercat

2012-01-07 06:50 am (UTC)

Anything with some kick-ass design.

...There is a reason I'm taking architecture classes... Now if only I could afford these kinds of places!

cloudsinvenice

2012-01-07 10:41 am (UTC)

It's funny you should mention this; I heard on the radio yesterday that the UK's Ministry of Defence has a selling site, eDisposals, for unwanted military bits and bobs. Like, you know, THE ARK ROYAL (sadly no longer on the website, though you can still buy a plane). The best part is that until they recently suspended the click-to-buy system, you could actually click "add to cart". XD

So, you could always have a floating Evil Mastermind Lair...

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