By Andrew Atkinson
La Romana born actor Andres Canto is putting the final touches to an underground cavehouse he began in his parents back garden as a teenager.
“It’s great, I have everything I need,” said Andres, 20, who started his project aged 14 – after falling out with his parents who told him he couldn’t go into the village wearing a tracksuit.
Using his grandfather’s pickaxe in anger he began digging an underground man cave, with steps leading down to a living area and bedroom.
Andres continued digging in the evenings after school with friend Andreu – who had a pneumatic drill – working 14 hours weekly, digging down 10-feet.
“At times I came across big stones and it could be frustrating – after hours of digging I had done almost nothing,” he said.
“It can be tiring to work as it is wet and not much air going around, but I have found motivation to keep digging every day,” said Andres.
“I have always liked to build little huts. I live in the countryside and often when I found abandoned wood there, I would build a nice house,” he said.
The cavehouse has two rooms, a heating system, Wi-Fi, provided by his phone transmitting from the cave entrance, and a music system: “I was a kid – with a lot of imagination,” added Andres.
The local authorities inspected the cavehouse to ensure it was legal, finding no issues, deemed as a basement, extension or storage structure
Captions: La Romana underground cave house built by actor Andres Canto.
