US family gets mortgage keep cave home

An American family expect they can stay in their home built in a cave after accepting an offer of a private mortgage contract.

Curt Sleeper said a New Jersey business offered a 15-year loan with a low interest rate that should allow the family to keep their home in Festus, about 48km south of St Louis.

Curt and Deborah Sleeper fell in love with the unique geography of an old mining cave in 2004 and built a house inside it.

But financial pressure had prompted them to put their home up for auction on the website eBay.