Malcolm Wells Office - Cherry Hill, NJ - Satellite Imagery Oddities on Waymarking.com

What better way to learn about the most famous earth home architect than to be given a personal tour of the house he built by someone who also saw it being built. This house looks like an empty lot but upon closer inspection, it is merely built underground, the roof looking like the front yard. The house has a decided circular construction to it. There are all sorts of nooks and secret spots including an escape stairway in the corner. A semicircular design in the roof edge he made with a coffee can. There are a series of rectangular pillars which are really neat, too.

This house in two parts separated by a courtyard. The front part, nearest the road, is where the architect Wells did his work which same position is occupied by the owner and business owner of the house. The rear part, has steps leading down into it where on the other end it empties out into a tributary of the Cooper River. Today, the house serves the needs of an advertising agency. They were really into the house and quite nice about the tour. Aside from several apologizes about the overgrown and rain forest like landscaping, they are quite proud of their office. There is a video tour of the house which can be found HERE. Pictures and a blueprint of this office and other building designed by Wells can be found HERE.

Across the street about 40 feet away is another building sunk into the ground, but only about three feet. Around this time he built this underground house, he also built this (his own) office at the intersection of Cuthbert Blvd and Park Blvd in Cherry Hill. It was in the same style as many of his works of that time - large timber beams, sloping roofs, and concrete work with a vague Frank Lloyd Wright like look/feel to it. The office housed his thriving practice. SOURCE

Biography of Wells
His work in architecture and design began in 1953. After 10 years "spent spreading corporate asphalt on America in the name of architecture," he began to feel that the Earth's surface was "made for living plants, not industrial plants;" and took up the challenge of underground architecture. This was reflected in his semi-underground office at Cuthbert Blvd and Park Blvd in Cherry Hill, NJ, adjacent to the Cooper River. His interests were in energy efficiency, aesthetics, land preservation and restoration "A Regeneration-based Checklist for Design and Construction", and durability of materials, among other aspects. His books have sold over 120,000 copies to similarly minded designers and to laymen alike. Wells died Friday, November 27, 2009, with his wife Karen North Wells and son John Wells at his side. SOURCE