How far would you go to get away from the pressures of modern life? For Angelo Mastropietro, the answer was to build a house right inside a 700-year old cave. But not only is the carving of the cave that old, the rocks themselves are dated to 250 million years ago.
But Mastropietro was not content to just stop at living inside cliffs that date back to the Triassic period. Instead, he was determined to make this cave home as beautiful as it could be and he set upon an intense renovation project that will leave your jaw dropped at the results.
He was inspired to create this drastic project because of his diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.
This diagnosis, and the onset of symptoms, changed how he thought about himself and the life he was living. Having a project that inspired him to get out in nature helped a lot. He explains to truly:
“I had a lapse that left me paralyzed, essentially, which was really the catalyst to make me review where I was at, where I was going, and obviously my lifestyle.”
The changes he made to this cave are unbelievable.
Mastropietro completely changed this cave. What had once been an empty cave is now a luxury home. His process was intense. Although this was already an open cave, he had to spend weeks drilling between different spaces in order to connect the rooms. Additionally, he ended up having to carve more of the rock to create more spaces.
He carved an area for a luxury bathroom and a fireplace. After that, he set to work bringing electricity into the house. In total, he ended up 70 tons of rock rubble and then used that rubble to create a terrace. The cave now looks like a luxury apartment that would be amazing to spend some time in!
But this renovation did not come easily.
Making all these changes to the cave cost Mastropietro a pretty penny. In total, he spent £160,000 (over $220K) in order to create an ideal cave space.
He also spent hours working on each part of the project. But all the hard work has just made him more proud of what he accomplished.
Cave houses have been a part of recent British history, but Mastropietro is excited to bring them back.
Up until the 1950s, some people in England lived in caves, although this was typically only amongst the poor. Eventually, people stopped living in caves altogether, because they largely became structurally unsound. Speaking with Today, Mastropietro explained how excited he was to bring back the cave houses:
“I saw The Rockhouse as a huge challenge and an opportunity to change history…Cave houses are no longer recognized in Britain and historically have a stigma associated as they were the architecture of the very poor people in society. Despite them being permanent dwellings, much older, and rarer than conventional architecture, they have been ignored.”
He now rents this cave house out so you can experience it for yourself!
If you ever wanted to explore Worcestershire, England, this would be the place to stay! The cave is a part of cliffs that are just outside of the Wyre Forest, and are also said to have inspired Tolkien when he was writing the Lord of the Rings.
Visiting these cliffs will surely put you in touch with nature. You may even feel a connection to ancient cavepeople.
Check out the cave house for yourself by watching the video below!
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