Mike Oehler's Property

Dear Everyone,
I am currently in search of Mike Oehler's earth-shelters and was wondering if anyone has any information regarding their current status.
General question: are still in existence and accessible?
I am curious to know if there is someone responsible for their maintenance, or if they were sold or demolished following his passing.
If anyone has any information or can provide with addresses or relevant contacts, that would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

Welcome to the forum!

I am not sure of the status of the Oehler property since he died.

There is a tour offered at Wheaton Lab of the Oehler-styled building that has been built there.

Here are two older threads about the building that you or others might enjoy:

https://permies.com/t/128532/Mike-Oehler-ground-home

https://permies.com/t/3794/Oehler-Ridge-House-finished

Here are some threads about the videos/books:

https://permies.com/wiki/160756/mike-oehler/Mike-Oehler-Cost-Underground-House

https://permies.com/wiki/23442/underground-house-book

I hope someone will chime in to answer your questions.

Dear Anne,

Thank you for your prompt reply and for all the links.
It is very nice that you keep Mike Ohler's memory alive!

If anyone would be able to give more precise information on where to visit these shelters, I would be grateful. The only address I could find is 333 Gandhi Way, Bonners Ferry. An aerial view of Google Maps shows a pile of wood right there, but it is not clear whether it is a collapsed building or something else.

It would be interesting to know if anyone from that area in Bonners Ferry  knew the location and could testify to their knowledge.

Thanks again

Since the structure is underground a person would not be able to see them on Google maps. Only the portion above ground would be seen.

At one time the forum had someone as a member who worked with Mike Oehler about the time of his death.

I feel that this person posted to one of the threads that I linked.

I thought of something last night that might help.

Someone wanting information on this property can go to the County"s Single Appraisal District's website (or what it is called for that state) and put in the address.

This will give that person the name and address of the currant owner.

Contacting them by mail will then be easy.

Dear Anne,
thank you very much for the suggestion.
I will try this out and if I get any results I will share them here in the forum.

The colleague with whom I am developing this research has obtained information, yet to be verified, that the small structures Mike built may have been demolished along with the purchase of the land by a third party.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to trace the owners back to the place where he built.
The search continues...

Aldous Fangsteiger wrote:The colleague with whom I am developing this research has obtained information, yet to be verified, that the small structures Mike built may have been demolished along with the purchase of the land by a third party.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to trace the owners back to the place where he built.
The search continues...

The vast majority of people likely wouldn't see any value in what Mike built. It's also highly likely that whatever structure replaces Mike's will have absolutely no value to me.

Michael Helmersson wrote:

Aldous Fangsteiger wrote:The colleague with whom I am developing this research has obtained information, yet to be verified, that the small structures Mike built may have been demolished along with the purchase of the land by a third party.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to trace the owners back to the place where he built.
The search continues...

The vast majority of people likely wouldn't see any value in what Mike built. It's also highly likely that whatever structure replaces Mike's will have absolutely no value to me.

It's really unfortunate, but it's true! Nevertheless, his contribution was crucial as he wrote instructions, publishing books and manuals. According to an old chat, he was almost done with a new book before his passing. However, the current whereabouts of these unpublished materials remain unclear. The chats mention that his niece, Alex, is responsible for managing the publications, and she might have more information about these unpublished materials. Unfortunately, she hasn't been responding to emails. Is it possible that Mike's papers were donated to the local library? Do any locals have knowledge about these details?

Aldous Fangsteiger wrote: Unfortunately, she hasn't been responding to emails.

She replied to me yesterday. Give it another try.