Beyond Underground Bunkers, Panic Rooms: A Look At The Ultra Rich's Extreme Home Security Measures

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) —  Several companies that specialize in building upscale doomsday retreats, which are way beyond underground bunkers and panic rooms, said business is booming.

Al Corbi lives in one of Southern California's most fortified homes. His house in the Hollywood Hills is outfitted with not only cameras everywhere, but it has biometric bedroom doors, bulletproof walls and even a gassing system.

"I don't think I'm paranoid at all," he said.

If someone tries to step inside his compound, a series of camera flashes go off.

The gassing system emits thick but harmless fog to disorient intruders or a noxious gas to disable them.

The security-system designer referred to his three-bedroom, three-bath master suite as the "safe core" and the safest place in Los Angeles.

The door to the suite weighs 650 pounds and has 12 bolts. "The walls are all ballistic. so you can't shoot through them. The floors have ballistic material in it" so an intruder can't shoot up, Corbi explained.

His daughter's room shares the same security as his safe core and has a balcony with a fire escape.

Should an intruder try to get into her room, security shutters drop down and "turn into a solid wall of steel."

Corbi said he doesn't believe panic rooms work but has one anyway.

"If the unimaginable happens since we're already in the safe core, we can come into the room right here," he was referring to the powder room, which is outfitted with security monitors and a phone system.

He can use the phone to communicate with the intruders through the PA system and tell them to leave the premises.

And that is not all. The compound is equipped with a heliport for a quick escape.

But Corbi said even that is not impressive enough, compared to the ultra rich, who have their own helicopters and private hangars.

He is working on his most ambitious project yet: a $100 million doomsday bunker at an undisclosed location.

"While no one else has water, he does. While no one else has power, he does," Corbi added.

When asked who his uber cautious client is, Corbi joked: "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

A survey commissioned by National Geographic found that 40 percent of Americans believed that stocking up on supplies or building a bomb shelter was a wiser investment than a 401(k).