In 1980, Lyle Underwood had his fair share of bad luck with Kansas wind. He’d lost barns, shed siding, and told his new bride, Linda, that he was done taking chances on the weather. That’s when he picked up a magazine and got an idea: an underground home. One exposed wall and three sides covered with dirt and grass. Not only would it protect them from extreme temperatures, it would combat the wind. 

He showed Linda a picture of the element-friendly home and they started planning. In the next two years they would build their earth-covered quarters, completing most of the work themselves. Once completed they had a four-bedroom, three-bath home complete with two levels. A large light well runs the front and northeastern section of the home. This allows for large windows in the basement bedrooms, while a deck sits atop at the ground level. 

In the late 70s, the Underwoods met while both working at Hutchinson-Mayrath (now AGI), Lyle as a plant manager and Linda as a line worker. By 1981 they were married and spending their evenings and weekends on the new home. 

Before starting to dig, the pair did research by working with field experts, hiring an architect, and laying out the groundwork. 

First, Lyle met with a professor at K-State. 

“He told me what you do do and what you don’t do,” he said. With Linda adding, “We were way off.” 

For instance, the magazine showed bonded cinderblock walls.

“He said there was no way that would work because the earth would cave it in,” Linda said. Instead, the rear of the home would need a 10-foot concrete wall supported by four-foot buttresses. They sit perpendicular to help support the wall through the weight of dirt. Two more sides of concrete were poured, with the exception of the front of the home, which is above-ground and covered in limestone.

The professor also recommended a student who could draw up blueprints. 

“He would come up with a set of blueprints and try to explain things,” Linda said. “He was pretty sharp and it was good experience. We learned a lot from him.” 

The concrete was hired out as was the masonry work that covered the exposed portion of the home. The rest they did themselves. 

Lyle started by purchasing a backhoe and a skid loader – the two pieces they were told they’d need. Through word-of-mouth they soon came across both and got to digging. They even set up lights so they could work into the dark. 

“I worked the backhoe and she worked the skid loader,” he said. “It took some getting used to but we got it.” They still own both pieces of equipment today.  

As for the idea of living underground, Linda said she paused at the idea but didn’t hesitate. 

“It was a little scary at first but you saw the drawings and it all came together pretty good. We both have a good work ethic and I think it was just meant to be.” 

Next, the Underwoods began framing walls, adding windows, and placing subfloors. Lyle built all the cabinets after taking evening carpentry classes at CCCHS. 

“I always wanted to be a carpenter, I just liked working with wood,” he said. “So I learned a lot and built cabinets for the whole kitchen, they still work so I guess I did alright.” 

He also completed a room in cedar with benches; originally they’d intended a sauna but had failed to plan ahead for the moisture. 

Meanwhile, their three teenaged kids helped with the work, as did coworkers. 

“I had a lot of friends who I babied at work so they would come out to help me pretty easily,” Lyle joked. 

It took two years of sweat equity until the home was complete with four bedrooms and 2.5 baths. The latter was a must with three teens, Lyle said.

“Our house in town had one bathroom for five people and we weren’t going to put up with that,” he said. 

Meanwhile, they’d maxed out credit cards, ran up a bill at the local lumberyard, and made good friends with the banker. 

“We thought we were doing really good,” Lyle said. “The banker came out to see what we were doing with the money and he just shook his head and walked away.” The pair joked about it, saying they had a good relationship with the bank, at a time where you could just call and ask for funds and sign the paperwork later. 

“It’s amazing how things change.” 

Between renting a home in-town, raising kids, and building, they said they moved in with plywood floors, completing the rest once the budget allowed. All with an 18% interest rate on their mortgage. 

“It sounds horrible but that was normal at the time, eventually we refinanced,” Linda said. 

Meanwhile, after making their first payment, Lyle said he called Linda saying there was a problem. 

“We only paid $4 on the loan our first payment and the rest went to interest; I said, ‘This will be 100 years for us to pay off.’” They talked with the same banker, who told them it “would all come out in the wash,” as he explained interest is paid first, then the principal portion of the loan. 

That’s when a co-worker suggested they pay weekly, rather than by the month.  

“We ended up paying it off in 10 years with that and paying as much as we could,” Linda said. “A lot of people thought it sounded crazy at the time but it worked for us.”  

Lyle retired in 1993, while Linda transferred to the local Post Office, where she worked for 26 years, retiring in 2017.

After 42 years in the home, original goals rang true: the earth-covered portion of the home stays 15 degrees cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, they said. Shortly after moving in, before their home insurance had started, a tornado came through, taking out their outbuildings, boat, and camper, along with the pole shed. Meanwhile, the house only needed a few shingles tightened.  

However, they said there’s a few things they’d have done differently, like a wider doorway. It started as 32” and when having repair work done, they request to have it opened to 36”. Within a light well portion of the home, they added a ladder to remain compliant with insurance. 

“We’re getting too old to climb a ladder,” Lyle joked. 

They’ve had new laterals added to the septic tank and are replacing the 17” tub lip with a walk-in shower. A new deck of composite will eliminate the annual job of sealing boards. 

 “You live and you learn; we’ve had some trying times getting appliances in and out. When you’re young you don’t think about wheelchair accessible doors,” she said. “It’s always something.”