The Bulletin today has an article about the "cave house" for sale in southeast Bend. I’d heard about this before; KTVZ did a story on it some time back, too. Basically, the house was built over a lava tube cave, and has a door that allows access into the cave itself.

Passing through the cave doorway and down a steep set of wooden stairs, [owner Jeanne] Hampton points out the duct work that imports cool air from the cave during the summer. The home’s builder in the early 1980s had the foresight to realize the cave’s temperature stays 55 degrees year-round and installed a fan system to pumps cool air into the house.

"It’s an automatic, natural air-conditioning system, and because it comes from the cave air, it doesn’t cost you hardly anything," said Hampton, who has lived in the house for seven years but just discovered the fan system last summer. "All you have to do is flip a switch in the house, and this is all hooked up to the central electric system. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this sooner."

At the bottom of the staircase, Hampton points out that there are actually two caves, or lava tubes. One is 850 feet long and the other is 350 feet long.

I believe the cave is also partially wired with electric lighting. I have to say, I think having private access to a cave like this inside your home would be the coolest thing ever. The real estate agent representing the home thinks it would be an ideal wine cellar.

The house is for sale for $495,000, and they’ve listed it on Craigslist; the listing is here. According to DIAL records, it’s located at 20975 Via Bonita, just off Ferguson Road. There’s also an MLS listing here.