A COUPLE turned a cave into a family home – but say a "lot of hard work" went into banishing bad smells.
Bryant and Amy Gingerich built a luxury 1,500sq ft cave home for their family of five – but have to fend off dripping ceilings and an "earthy" atmosphere.
The American couple spent around £76,000 turning a dugout in the Ohio woodlands into a glass-fronted home.
The cave cabin boasts two bedrooms, each with a king-size bed,a fully-functional kitchen, a pool table, an outdoor patio, and even multiple chandeliers hanging from the stone ceilings.
The stunning renovation took only seven months, with the help of a rock specialist and an architect.
But constructing a liveable space out of the Black Hand Sandstone meant the Gingerich clan had to get creative to overcome cave smells and leaks.
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In a video tour of the property, Mum-of-three Amy explains: "We've had a lot of guests ask does it smell like a cave.
"We've done a lot of hard work to remove any bad smells – so we recycle the air coming in and out."
The couple's innovative solution involves using four dehumidifiers to remove moisture from the air – each one working to banish five to eight gallons of water per day.
But as the home's walls are made almost entirely from the cave's naturally-occurring rock, water leakage is still a concern.
Confronting a drip coming from the ceiling, dad Bryant says: "Since I can't keep the water out, I just have to figure out what to do with it."
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Bryant shows how he plans to rig a sealed pan to the ceiling to collect the water, which he will then pour through a drain in the cave's concrete flooring.
The couple use several of these floor drains to keep the property "comfortable and dry" – calling them "weep holes".
Despite having to battle the elements, the Gingerich family have made the space into a glamorous holiday rental.
The couple share photos of the remarkable cave transformation on their Instagram, where posts show the unique woodland home's cosy fireplace and six-person hot tub.
The cave also features a free-standing bathtub and is surrounded by private-hiking trails.
It comes after a hermit who built a phenomenal beach cave residence was told he faced eviction by the Israeli government.
Nissim Kahlon, 77, created a remarkable structure filled with tunnels, mosaics, and winding staircases out of beachside sandstone cliffs.
But the country's Environmental Protection Ministry said Mr Kahlon's structure is "illegal" – and is endangering the Herzliya beach coastline, to the north of Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, this savvy mum built a tiny home for her whole family to enjoy – but admitted her tall father-in-law does have to duck to enter.
While this £70,000 tiny home built at the bottom of a garden offers a view of the ocean – and even sits on its own wheels.
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