Question to those living in an Earth Berm home....

We are searching for a new home and my realtor just informed me of a pocket listing of an earth bermed home on 40 acres.....obviously that acreage is AWESOME but I am worried about expensive repairs and also mold in an earth bermed home. Could anyone give me any insight to their experience with mold and living in an underground home? (I am mold sensitive) Thanks in advance! Also if there is anything to look/inquire about in regards to construction if we look at it that would be awesome. Thank you.

If the house was built using what Mike Oehler called the "first thought" design, where you dig into a slope so all the windows are facing downhill for the view, you end up with that slope and roof feeding rain and surface water towards the back wall and eventually water will leak or seep in and that's where you can get a mold issue. If the hill slopes down and away in all directions, and especially if it has a waterproof barrier under the soil which extends beyond the walls to keep the soil dry, then that is far less likely. That's a key feature of PAHS which is part of a wofati design to minimize any moisture near the logs.

A french drain up slope of the house will move some water around and away, but water will still seep down to the wall. Perhaps a good drainage system was put next to the walls to keep them dry, and if so the building plans should show that. A walk around to smell and look for water stains or mineral deposits on the walls, or maybe spotting a sump pump installed, would be good too.

I saved this on my phone. Thank you so much!