‘Quirky’ doomsday bunker in Cornwall could be yours for $46,000

A former pumping station is for sale in England and it could make the perfect apocalypse bunker. 

The tiny 14-square-metre property is being marketed as a holiday home for savvy investors, but househunters say it could be an ideal doomsday hideout. 

“Perfect spot to hide during a disaster and looks well insulated too,” one admiring person wrote on Reddit. 

“Zombies would struggle to get in,” a second person commented. 

“Unless they knocked,” another countered. 

The property is rich in local history. For over fifty years, the pumping station provided water to the Cornish town of Penzance from Drift Reservoir. 

In 2013, local man Ryan Lee bought the station from South West Water with the intention of transforming it into a unique holiday let. 

He transformed the dark, cramped space into a surprisingly cosy micro-home, with a kitchenette, double bed and a shower room. 

The property has been lined with timber to give it a warm – if rather sauna-esque – quality. 

Details from the building’s past have been preserved, such as the metal front door, industrial signage and concrete ceiling hatch. 

The old pumping station is listed on holiday rental websites as a “quirky underground hobbit house.” 

Prices start from around $120 per night in the off-season, and the property has proved popular with guests, who promise it’s “as quirky an experience as advertised”. 

The old pumping station was originally listed with a guide price of £45,000 ($91,500). Its price has recently been slashed to just £23,000 ($46,000). 

“Any future use of the Lot would be subject to all necessary consents being obtainable,” the auction website warns. 

The auctioneers note that a previous planning application for continued use as a holiday let was refused by Cornwall Council. 

Despite the planning snags, social media users have brainstormed a wide variety of possible uses for the bunker. 

“That would be good for a content creator that focuses on [doomsday] prepping,” a Reddit user suggested. “‘I bought a Nuclear Bunker.’ ‘My man cave is a fallout shelter.’ Don’t forget the head with the gaping mouth, open eyes, on the thumbnail.” 

Other social media users were more sceptical about the property’s business potential. 

“People keep trying to make this an exciting holiday let which I totally do not get. Come to the place in the UK with arguably the finest air quality and trap yourself in a bunker on a main road!” a user wrote. 

The old pumping station will go to auction on 20 March with Clive Emerson Land and Property Auctioneers.