For 35 years, Dan Price has lived underground in a tiny “hobbit hole” tucked into a quiet Oregon mountain meadow. When we first filmed him a decade ago, he showed us his 80-square-foot home and office where he once drew and printed Moonlight Chronicles, his hand-illustrated zine.
source.image: Kirsten Dirksen
Now 68, Dan still lives simply, happily, and with no regrets, and the saplings he planted around his friends’ property are now towering trees.
source.image: Kirsten Dirksen
He rents the meadow for just $100 a year, tending the land and keeping it fire-safe. His underground home stays a steady 50°F year-round—even through snowy winters—so his electric bill averages just $40 a month.
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Over the years, he’s added small comforts: a new roof, a patio of salvaged bricks, and an outdoor earth-cooled fridge. Most of his food now comes from the land itself—dandelions, daisies, and wild greens—so he rarely buys vegetables.
Once a professional photographer, Dan gave it all up to live lightly—walking, drawing, and creating 77 issues of Moonlight Chronicles. Today, he continues his free-spirited path, splitting time between his Oregon meadow and winters surfing and busking with his handpan. Unlike Thoreau, whose Walden Pond experiment lasted just two years, Dan has made underground simplicity his lifelong practice.
