‘Ghost Adventures’ Host Zak Bagans Turning Bizarre Underground Las Vegas Home Into Museum

Zak Bagans just purchased the most bizarre residence known to exist in a town with plenty of contenders for the title. The Underground House is a sprawling Cold War-era fallout shelter buried nearly three stories beneath an unassuming home in a quiet suburb off Flamingo Road.

Bagans paid $4.5 million for the 16,000-square-foot compound and said he plans to turn it into a museum, permanently opening the subterranean hideout to the public for the first time in its nearly 50-year history. (It has been, at times, available for the public to tour and rent for special occasions, however.)

That would make this museum No. 2 for the celebrity specter-stalker. His long-running Haunted Museum in downtown Las Vegas still does a brisk business in the macabre, with displays including Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s assisted-suicide van, Charles Manson’s cremated remains, and artwork by John Wayne Gacy.

Underground Debunker

Conceived in the 1970s by Avon executive and nucleophobe Girard “Jerry” B. Henderson as his home, the Underground House was designed by atomic‑age architect Jay Swayze, whose earlier “Underground World Home” debuted at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

Henderson spent an estimated $10 million (roughly $68 million today) creating a blast‑resistant hideaway complete with painted skies, faux landscaping, waterfalls, and lighting programmed to mimic sunrise, daylight, dusk, and night.

“Once I was actually in the process of buying it, I was shocked by how many different mysteries are tied to this house, things I don’t wanna reveal just yet,” Bagans told TMZ. “I did not go into this trying to buy it as a haunted property, but there’s some very heavy‑duty mysteries associated with the place and the previous owners.”

Though Bagans won’t say who he thinks is haunting the joint, Henderson is the only soul known to have departed from here—from a heart attack at age 78 on Nov. 16, 1983.

Surreal Estate

After Henderson’s death, followed by his wife’s, the property changed hands several times over the decades. It most recently landed with the Stasis Foundation, a biochemical organization known for cryogenic preservation. The foundation listed the bunker for as much as $18 million before Bagans snagged it for a bargain.

The Underground House has long fascinated outsiders with its Cold War pedigree, atomic‑age architecture, and eccentric design.

YouTube sensation MrBeast filmed a segment here, calling it “one of the most expensive and bizarre bunkers on the planet,” and Las Vegas rock band Imagine Dragons used it as the set for their 2021 music video, “Monday”.

“My intention is to preserve the house and its history, and to dig deeper into the mysteries I’ve discovered that still haven’t surfaced,” Bagans told TMZ.

In addition to opening the space as a museum, Bagans says he plans to produce an original documentary about its history.