A Boeing 727 is the last thing you'd expect to see nestled in a clearing in a forest in Oregon. Even more surprising still, the retired aircraft is home to former electrical engineer Bruce Campbell. Complete with a cockpit, airline seats and flight controls, home conversions don't get much more extraordinary than this. Let's lift open the hatch door and discover how this pioneering homeowner took residential architecture to new heights. Click or scroll through for more...
In 1999, Bruce sourced the plane from a site close to Hillsboro Airport in Oregon, spending $100,000 for the aircraft, as well as another $96,000 on moving the vehicle and renting a staging site to temporarily house the plane.
Bruce loved the prospect of living mortgage-free, rejecting the idea of taking on debt from a young age. For years, he lived in an inexpensive and humble mobile tiny house, saving money in order to be able to purchase a property outright.
As a self-confessed aeronautics enthusiast, Bruce saw the huge potential that a Boeing 727 afforded. He pictured the interior without chairs or people and realized how much room the vehicle offered. In fact, a 727 cabin and flight deck provides 1,066 square feet of space, while two large cargo holds and equipment bays offer additional storage. For Bruce, turning a retired plane into a home was a no-brainer!
We've seen our fair share of vehicle conversions, but this one is among the most challenging. Bruce hired local contractors to tow the plane down the road to its current woodland setting. The tricky process required the removal of the wings and tail prior to transportation, with the plane pulled along normal roads to its final resting place.
Incredibly strong, airplanes are built to last, making them a highly durable and practical space to call home. Bruce loves his unusual living environment, stating: "It's a great toy. Trick doors, trick floors. Hatches here, latches there, clever gadgets everywhere... It's a constant exploratory adventure, ever entertaining, providing fundamental sustenance for an old technology nerd like me."
In fact, only minor modifications are needed in order to make a plane livable – something that Bruce is keen to sing about. Since aircraft already have connection ports for water and sewage, you can simply plug them in and you're good to go. Plus, no changes to the plane’s plumbing are necessary, except to the lavatories to ensure thorough flushing.
To make his plane home even more comfortable, Bruce added polyethylene water lines and plumbing components in order to clean his clothes and enjoy hot, powerful showers. These additional connections also power his domestic water heater and multiuse sink – not bad for a tired mode of transport!
There's also one sewage connection for both the home’s fully functional toilets, along with a rainwater drain mast that allows the home's graywater to simply run out onto the grass outside.
After it was moved from the "airplane graveyard", as Bruce puts it, the vehicle was placed on temporary supports. However, the owner hopes that his home will eventually sit on two permanent landing gear support pillars formed from concrete.
Since Portland is prone to intense earthquakes, the concrete pillars will be designed with a concave divet to allow the aircraft to move freely during any sudden or violent environmental disaster. The wheels will remain fully intact and will simply sit neatly on top of the supports.
A chain will also be anchored to each of the pillars and attached through an anti-shock polymer buffer to the main struts, keeping the plane safely in place but allowing it some wriggle room. This way, the plane will be able to move slightly to protect itself from shocks.
Bruce enters his home via an original, retractable staircase, which he simply raises when he leaves the plane for a prolonged period of time, keeping his property safe and secure.
Inside, he has kept much of the interior relatively intact, allowing the history of the vehicle to speak volumes. You can witness visible custom-contoured titanium air ducts with welded seams, as well as original windows, seats and light fixtures – Bruce made these more efficient by replacing the bulbs.
For Bruce, making unnecessary changes to the interior would have been disrespectful. Describing the Boeing's design and fabrication, he said it's "a whale of a class act and has my full rationally founded respect. So I retain it wherever possible, which is almost everywhere."
One change he did make, however, was to the floor. In order to show off the jet's specialist equipment, Bruce created a transparent surface, which exposes the aft cargo compartment and its components. The floor was created from see-through acrylic panels that he repurposed from a previous project.
The aft compartment of the aircraft, which lies towards the rear tail, is now Bruce’s main living space, complete with a large desk where he tinkers on different elements of the plane. The airy space is also home to his kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.
At night, Bruce sleeps on a simple fold-away futon, which can be converted into a sofa in the daytime, offering a practical space-saving solution for the snug living area.
There's a small, usable kitchen where you can make simple meals with the microwave or toaster. An original 727 serving cart doubles up as a storage unit for all of his canned goods, while the sink and laundry facilities are also found here.
The plane comes complete with two natural toilets and a makeshift shower, created from a plastic tray and a wrapped sheet that form a screened tub. The shower was supposed to be a temporary solution, but Bruce rather enjoys its primitive nature and says it works perfectly for his needs.
The flight deck is still a glorious sight for aviation fans. While lots of the panels and controls were stripped by the plane's salvage company, Bruce has managed to source and replace many of the desk's missing elements, recreating the original setup as closely as he could. His efforts were worth it, as this space remains one of the home's most interesting features.
After completing his house, Bruce began welcoming visitors to the quirky property. His unique project steadily gained interest and the skilled DIY enthusiast now loves showing people around and educating them on why planes make fantastic living environments. He has starred in numerous YouTube videos, offering a Cribs-style tour of his airplane home.
Bruce just has one rule for his guests: they must leave their shoes at the entrance and wear Japanese-inspired slippers before walking through the plane. This way, Bruce keeps his home nice and clean and the acrylic floor is protected from scuff marks.
Knowing that 727 planes float beautifully, Bruce hopes that in the future they might be used as protective shelters for areas affected by environmental disasters. He suggests that places like Japan could really benefit from utilizing aircraft in this way, as well as providing additional housing for an over-populated country.
Bruce hopes to change the attitude of what he sees as our throwaway culture by educating the people from all over the world who reach out to him and visit the plane. Instead of destroying perfectly practical and useful vehicles, he wants the world to embrace airplanes and repurpose them, even after they've been retired from flying.
Before the pandemic, Bruce even hosted live music events on the right wing of the aircraft. Aptly named Concert on a Wing, these popular celebrations gave people the opportunity to visit his home, while enjoying food, drink and music. He also offered tours of his plane in order to promote this unique style of living.
As well as sharing his expertise with people who might want to create a similar home for themselves, Bruce's website also offers links to similar success stories, as well as plane auction listings. The aero-enthusiast estimates that you could create your own recycled home from a Boeing 727 for as little as $50,000. Could retired airplanes be the future of housing?
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