17,000 sq ft house in a cave for sale ($300K)

Curt and Deborah Sleeper find themselves in a predicament millions of other Americans find themselves in these days: they own a house in which the mortgage payment is about to reset and they can't afford it. Except the Sleepers' house isn't just any old house. It's a cave, and a pretty cool one at that.

* 17,000 square foot house in Festus, MO.

* 3 "chambers" — a front chamber that contains three bedrooms; a middle chamber that holds the laundry room, storage, and a spare bath, and the back chamber that still has the stage where Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, Ike and Tina Turner, the MC5 and many other bands performed.

* 2.8 scenic, partially wooded acres. Very private, although very close to town, just several blocks from shopping, dining, and other conveniences.

* Energy efficiency: Geothermal and passive solar keep the home comfortable year-round without a furnace or air conditioning.

* Kitchen: The kitchen is the crowning jewel of the house, with nearly 400 square feet and a floor plan that lends itself well to cooking for one person, two, or parties of a hundred guests. Some of the features include a customizable Jenn-Air cook top, two convection ovens, Kitchen-Aid triple sink, large island with secondary sink and breakfast bar, and granite tile countertops.

* Water features: The property has at least three groundwater springs, one accessible via a cistern in the middle chamber of the cave, one that yields an average of 100 gallons a day that drips into an indoor pond in the front chamber, and one near the woods that creates a shallow pond. During heavy rain, the property gets as many as fourteen beautiful waterfalls from the cliffs.