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When I was 17, I was kicked out of high school and moved to Moab, a mining town in Utah. At the time, the town had 5,000 people living in it.
It was then that I began to mine. I worked my way through college working at seven different mines. In 1980, a few years after graduating college, I bought 40 acres of land near Boulder, Utah. It was always my dream to mine a cave in the wilderness, away from the city. I bought it for $25,000, and a lot of my friends thought that it was a foolish decision because the land had nothing on it.
It was difficult to drive up to the land back then, and if anyone attempted to, they would often get stuck in the sand trying to turn around. It was just a sand sage in a beautiful canyon. After buying the land, I later sat with a friend and brainstormed what would become: A sustainable home in a 4,500-foot cave.
For the next 25 years, I lived on a trailer on the property without electricity and running water. I made my money with my company, Escalante Canyon Outfitters. I was a horse outfitter and guide and we grew food to supply ourselves and sell. I didn't mine after 1979 when the price of uranium fell.
In 1995, I began the cave by blasting a little tunnel into the rock. It was very exciting for me because I didn't think I could purchase explosives and I couldn't afford the mining equipment.
I soon began mining out the rock and developed a certain type of blasting that involved drilling parallel lines. After I hollowed it out, I trimmed the rock, shaped it, and carved it. It was my art project and took me eight years to complete.
In 2003, I finished blasting the whole cave. I wanted to create what I would call "Man's place on earth." A place where I could grow food, blend in with nature, and live a sustainable life. That's why in 1980 when I had bought the land, I also planted trees outside what would become the cave. Many of them are now four to five feet in diameter and 60 feet tall.
After finishing the cave, it was empty for a few years. Then, I began building the windows by cutting a slot into the sandstone and inserting the glass so that I could see where it was connected. Once the property was done, a few professional carpenters helped me with the plumbing, the cement, the glass, and the construction of the rooms. I did the flooring and the woodwork.
Within the cave, I built a music room called the jam room. I also built a bridge to the west end of the cave, which is where guests often stay. I live in the main part of the cave.
I also planted an orchid outside that grows fruit like peaches, plums, cherries and nectarines. I had a 22-foot-in diameter water wheel that ran the pump and put in 6,500 feet of pipeline from the pond, to be able to grow crops. Sustainability is important to me. I can't grow everything or provide for all of my needs, but I do make my electricity using water power. The meat in my diet comes from cows, pigs and turkeys that I have, and my milk from a milk cow that has calves.
Every time guests stay at the property, it is a wonderful experience because they are always amazed. It's fun to see everyone's amazement. Because we're in the middle of the wilderness in the monument, people often come here to hike. They come back in the evening and often party, it's a fun environment. Because we are in the wilderness, we are not seen as a threat to the animals. There is a lot of nature here.
During the springtime, the cave is fully booked up and during winter, we are typically booked a lot of the weekends. We charge $350 per night, for two people, and I charge $950 for 9 people per night, which is full house rental. The demand for the cave tends to decrease during the heat of summer. But that's my favorite season because there are a lot of thunderstorms that form over the mountain and we have a swimming hole that's nine feet deep.
People feel inspired here. I call it positive living in a negative space. I'm currently blasting more properties just a hundred yards away. I'm blasting a barn and another house. It's a really exciting process. We have created a meaningful life immersed in an incredibly beautiful land that nourishes our spirit.
Grant Johnson rents out his cave near Boulder, Utah. You can find the property on Airbnb, here.
All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
As told to Newsweek associate editor, Carine Harb.
