atomitat
nounUS /əˈtɑː.mɪ.tæt/
Etymology Blend of atomic + habitat. Coined around November 1961 by American architect Jay Swayze, originally as the name of his underground bunker and home in Plainview, Texas, which completed construction in 1962.
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US, Rare A luxury underground bunker; an underground house designed for habitation during a nuclear fallout or other catastrophic event; a luxurious (and often large, homely) fallout shelter.
- Visitors to the New York World's Fair in 1964-65 will get a chance to share the "oohs" and "aahs" in Plainview for the last year and a half. Jay Swayze, Plainview contractor and president of Underground World Home Corporation, is building another of his famed "Atomitats" at the World's Fair site.1963 October 8, Plainview Herald:
- It has a den, living room, dining room, kitchen — and even a patio, all enclosed within a concrete shell. The atomitat resulted from an idea Swayze had some years ago at a civil defense discussion on family fallout shelters.1966 May 29, Mike Cochran, “Three Years in Subterranean House”, in The Japan Times, number 24,204, page 4:
4 more examples
- The steel door is secured and the family and their friends gather on the entrance patio to wait out the threat. In last year's tornado, numerous people went to the atomitat and the Hammans were the only ones who had electricity for several hours, using their emergency supply until high lines were repaired.1971 January 27, “Underground House Pleasing Home For Plainview Family”, in Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, volume 74, page 10-B:
- His first "subterranean house for the nuclear age" was for his own family, a 10-room, 2800-square-foot ranch house three feet underground. To market the atomic habitat (atomitat) he built a version of his home for the 1962 World's Fair.2012 March 5, Rachelle Linner, “Bomboozled: How the U.S. Government Misled Itself and Its People into Believing They Could Survive a Nuclear Attack (Roy, S; 2011) [Book Review]”, in IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, volume 31, number 1, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, →DOI, page 9:
- Fair attendees experienced Michelangelo's Pieta, Walt Disney's animatronics, and NASA's latest space rockets and satellites. One could tour an "atomitat," short for atomic habitat, an underground house to ease fears of a nuclear war.2024 September 13, Ruth D. Nelson, “A World's Fair Could Be Just What We Need”, in Time:
- Construction began in 1974, and by 1978, Henderson's dream became a reality. The estate, costing an estimated $10 million at the time (equivalent to roughly $68 million today), remains the largest private luxury bunker ever constructed in Nevada and one of the last accessible Atomitats in existence.2025 September 29, Nasya Mancini, “Explore the hidden world beneath Las Vegas with the unique Underground House for sale”, in News 3 Las Vegas: