Going Underground: Travis Kelce's "Iceberg House" Is A Subterranean Lair Of Opulence Being Adopted By Many A-Listers

Not so much a man cave but a man aircraft hangar. Travis Kelce – the Kansas City Chiefs' tight end, Taylor Swift’s other half – is the latest celebrity to have adopted the all-encompassing subterranean “Iceberg House” – a must-have accoutrement for his sprawling 17,000-square-foot home in the Kansas City suburbs.

An Amenity-Filled Playpen

Decked-out, amenity-filled basements have quickly become essential for luxury McMansions, according to architects, real estate agents and designers. Kelce’s soon-to-be iceberg house features a golf simulator, a top-of-the-line gym, a lounge and more. The football star’s recently remodeled $6 million home was built in 1996 by Kansas City-based architect Wolfgang Trost. The lower level is a recent addition. Trost, who couldn’t speak specifically about Kelce’s home due to an NDA, told Mansion Global:

“There is no limit to what you can do. Some projects I’ve worked on have multiple levels below ground.”

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A Personal Gym and Health Spa

While most man caves might feature a multi-gym, cardio equipment, TV lounge, bar and spare bedroom, the sky’s the limit for high-net-worth owners like Kelce. Trost says additional amenities include full-scale racquet and basketball courts, whiskey rooms, bars, wine cellars, doomsday bunkers, movie theaters with stadium seating and swimming pools. Additional luxury add-ons include recording studios, saunas, massage rooms, cold plunge pools and steam showers.

The thirst for home improvement has meant tunneling down well below the standard basement level to include as many additional luxury features as the homeowner can imagine.

“I work on 12 to 15 residential projects a year and now all of these have lavish subterranean levels. A decade ago, only 20% of my clients wanted them,” Ignacio Rodriguez, the founder of IR Architects, said. 

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Privacy Conscious

Not everyone welcomes the construction of luxury subterranean palaces – especially the owners of neighboring homes. Removing trees and digging so far down can cause issues of permeability, erosion and the possibility of collapsing foundations, especially in wet climates where the soil can become heavy and waterlogged. Still, the opportunity to keep opulent living spaces away from the public eye is an obvious draw for privacy-conscious homeowners.

“In a world where anyone with money can build a flashy mansion, iceberg homes present a modest exterior while concealing lavish, expansive interiors below ground,” Justin M. Riordan, founder of Spade and Archer Design Agency in Portland and Seattle, told the New York Post. “The hidden opulence of iceberg homes reflects a modern understanding that true wealth is about the quality of life inside, not how much of it is on display,” he said. 

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Practical Issues

Lower levels make particular sense when space is at a premium and homeowners are forced to build up or down. The trend has expanded in the U.S. from cities to suburbia. However, an iceberg house might not be feasible if your homesite is in an area with poor ground soil quality, excessive rocks or a history of earthquake activity. 

“These lower levels, which we never call basements, are a big trend in new construction luxury properties,” Eva Lindsell, the principal and CEO of Lindsell Interiors in Greenville, South Carolina, said. “Below-ground wellness retreats are particularly popular.” 

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