Hello. A friend and I are buying a property up north in a few months and I'm curious about just carving a home in the side of a hill and if id need a degree to recognize supporting ground.
Thanks guys

You don't need the degree, but you will need an approved builder to know how to support the ground around the building.

Forbes Welcome (http://www.forbes.com/sites/houzz/2013/09/06/6-amazing-homes-dug-into-the-earth/)

Your biggest obstacle (other than boulders underground) is the water table. There's no point in living underground if your hill is too wet.

Building a home, even partially underground, has distinct advantages. Heating/Cooling bills can be minimized for example. But you will need a builder or consultant/architect knowledgeable about building underground. A lot depends on the composition of the hill. And you really need a expert to advise you. I haven't heard as much about underground homes lately, they were a rage a couple of decades ago. But I haven't looked at them for a while. It was a dream of mine a while back to build an underground home.

You need to do your homework on this. But its definitely something to consider. Especially is the property has very little flat ground.

I have 3.4 acres in NW CT. Some of it is so steep I've never been on it. Anyone who wants to carve a house out of it, be my guest, no one will ever see you, not even google earth.
My neighbor, who has less acreage than I, says he pays more tax on his flatter land. There's another advantage.