2012 has gotten off to a very nontraditional start over at faircompanies because one of the website's latest featured low-impact living arrangements is located in a cave. On a formerly condemned quarry. In rural France.

 

I've featured a modern day cave dwelling before before but this one, located near the touristy town of Saumur in the stunning Loire Valley, is pretty special. The area in and around Saumur is famously home to an abundance of ages-old subterranean lairs, troglodyte dwellings, that in recent years have been converted into bars, galleries, restaurants, hotels, mushroom farms, and, since this is the Loire Valley that we're talking about, wineries. And in what Smithsonian.com calls "the epicenter of troglo life," there are still a smattering of domesticated caves like the one belonging to a retired teacher named Henri Grevellec.

 

Twelve years ago, Grevellec purchased an abandoned quarry in the area and set out to convert a network of six condemned, previously inhabited rocky outcrops into one happy, habitable, and Hobbit-esque home. Performing much of the renovation work himself with old-fashioned stone working tools, Grevellec transformed the series of caves, which once upon a time had been used as living quarters for quarry workers, into a wine cellar, a guest room, a workshop, and a charming primary living space complete with modern kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.

 

Of course, there’s one huge boon of living in a domesticated cave: no heating or cooling is necessary since the rock walls act as a natural insulator, keeping things cool in the summer and mild in the winter. And to bring in additional light and prevent things from becoming stuffy in the main cave, Grevellec added a skylight which also can be used as an escape hatch in the event that the cannibalistic humanoids from “The Descent” ever decide to pay a visit.