The 747 Wing House was made by using the two wings and tail section of a scrapped Boeing 747
Brought to my attention by Giuseppe Volpicelli, a reader of The Aviation Geek Club, the interesting photos in this post show the so called 747 Wing House, the house that was created by using a former jumbo jet to build the ultimate dream home.
Noteworthy this highly unusual home was made by using the two wings and tail section of a scrapped Boeing 747.
Francie Rehwald, a former Mercedes dealer, spent $26,000 on the scrap Boeing 747 and tasked American architect David Hertz to build this stunning house in the remote hills of Malibu, California.
According Daily Mail, since Rehwald wanted curves and feminine shapes for her dream house, interviewed 12 architects before deciding on David Hertz, and spent 15 years searching the globe for the perfect piece of land.
All Hertz had to do was look to the skies for his inspiration – coming up with the idea when he was on an aeroplane.
Rehwald even had to get permission from 17 government agencies – including Homeland Security – to build the house, as from the sky it looks like a plane crash.
The retired Mercedes Benz dealer explained: “I wanted something that was feminine.
“You might not think wings are feminine, but once they were detached from the plane they really come into their own.
“They have such subtle curves.”
Hertz’s brief was an economical, feminine house with a floating roof.
He said: “I was flying and looking out at the wing, thinking about what I could do to float a roof.
“Then it occurred to me, why try to build a wing when I can appropriate a wing?”
Rehwald – who refused to say exactly how much it cost to build, only hinting it was in the millions – added: ‘No one had ever built anything like this before.
‘There were a lot of surprises that brought the cost up, but it’s just beautiful.’
The mansion sits on 55 acres and is 1,000 feet above sea level.
It used two Boeing wings and two tail fins, which were detached from the plane using the latest precision technology.
They were then transported to the mansion by using a CH-47 Chinook belonging to Columbia Helicopters, after having to close five freeways to get them partway there.
Hertz said: “There was a lot of risk with the helicopter.
“It was clear when we were transporting the wings that if they started to turn or catch the wind, they would just drop them.”
Rehwald concludes: “Every day is a complete and utter joy and I feel so lucky.”
Photo credit: Superfastjellyfish via Wikipedia
