Aviation fans can have the vacation of their dreams after an inventor painstakingly turned a ‘retro’ Boeing plane into a stunning Airbnb.
The plane has original seats, overhead compartments and even a flight simulator in the cockpit.
The front half of the 737 airliner seats four and features a double bed in the cargo hold and a hot tub on the deck of an old jet engine.
Guests even have the opportunity to use the original bathroom on board.
Entrepreneur and university professor Steven Northam, 39, bought the 1960s Boeing 737-200 on eBay for £5,000 and converted it into a two-story holiday home entered via the boarding stairs of the airport.
Steven Northam, 39, bought a plane online for £5,000 and turned it into a guest house
The remains of the Boeing 737 have been completely refitted with enough space to accommodate four guests.
The plane cost him £15,000 to refurbish over three months and he has named it ‘Marwell High Club’ after the nearby Marwell Zoo.
Mr Northam purchased the 29ft long, five tonne forward section from Chichester College, West Sussex, where the aircrew had trained using the simulator.
He spent £3,000 transporting the 14 handcrafted windows 50 miles using a haulage company and crane to land near his home near Winchester, Hampshire, on the same road as Marwell Zoo.
He then worked “pretty solidly” from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on his July-September 2022 project to make it a cozy place to stay.
The married father of two is applying to Winchester City Council to charter the plane as an Airbnb.
It has two single beds upstairs and a double room in the luggage room, with a glass window to let in light from above.
Mr. Northam, a senior professor of business administration at the University of Winchester, found old passenger tickets, from Monastir, Tunisia to Lyon, France, tucked between the seats that revealed that the Boeing belonged to Tunisair, the national airline. from Tunisia.
He believes it to be around 54 years old and was one of the first of its kind to be built.
He said: ‘It’s an old school plane. It’s one of the first, it’s retro.
Both the aircraft’s passenger deck and cargo hold have been converted to make room for guests.
The aircraft cabin has a full flight simulator built in to entertain guests.
A double bed has also been built into the cargo hold with a window above to let in light.
Northam said, “I’m not a fan of airplanes,” adding that the aircraft conversion was “just a fun project.”
Aircraft seats have been installed to create living space in the fuselage, and free Wi-Fi is available for guests.
The initial Boeing 737 made its maiden flight in April 1967 and evolved over the years, with variants accommodating 85 to 215 passengers.
Mr Northam, who is also a business owner, admitted that he knows “absolutely nothing” about aircraft, but found the aircraft while browsing eBay and thought it was an “interesting” opportunity for another company.
It has kept much of the original aircraft, using the passenger seats and signage inside while installing Wi-Fi, heating, a shower, and an “entertainment center.”
Mr Northam said: “It had been sitting in Chichester College for a long time, and they hadn’t used it for a long time.” He just showed up on eBay. I have no idea what happened to the rest of the plane.
‘I thought it was pretty cheap, it was a bargain just for the scrap value.
I hired a special transport company to move it here with a huge crane. It must have been quite a sight on the freeway. I was afraid it would get here and tip over.
‘There are some plane-Airbnbs like this scattered around the world, but only a few.
“It’s definitely not something you see every day.
‘It’s a fun place to hang out. Fun is the engine behind everything.
‘I’m not a fan of airplanes, all I know is that they fly. It’s just a fun project.
He added: ‘It’s my most ridiculous purchase to date. I have an armored truck to convert into a camper next.
It cost Northam around £15,000 to convert the aircraft into accommodation for three months.
Mr Northam, business owner and Senior Lecturer in Business Management at the University of Winchester, sitting in the cockpit of his aircraft.
The Boeing 737 was transported 50 miles to its current site by a transport company using a huge crane.
The new passengers of the plane will be able to continue enjoying the original bathroom of the plane on board
Northam bought the wreckage of the plane on Ebay and spent months renovating it himself.
‘I have this peculiar desire to buy rare things.
“I have a few airplane-related movies on the plane and cheesy airplane-themed throw pillows on the beds—everything you’d expect.”
The Airbnb has sleeping space for four people and a small kitchen, as well as the shower and toilet.
The cockpit flight simulator has a 49-inch curved 4K screen installed for guests to enjoy.
A self-described “big boy”, Mr. Northam also went the extra mile to set up two 42′ HD TVs and two Xbox Series S.
There is parking space for two cars, a gas BBQ and outdoor seating area, including the hot tub and another jet engine deck that can be used as seating.
Mr. Northam is no stranger to innovative projects: he installed a microchip in his own hand in 2017 to act as a key to his car, home, office, and now Boeing as well.
Mr Northam and his wife, Rebecca, a 36-year-old primary school teacher, have two daughters: Poppy, 6, and Lottie, 4.
He said: ‘I’m telling you this is not normal.
“I have been contacted by people who are obsessed with these things and ask me to come see them. Parents of kids who love things like planes and trains also ask me about it.
“Inside, it’s a bit like a caravan: it was quite big when empty with all the seats removed.
“I’m excited to see the projects before and to see them after; it’s satisfying.”
Due to the unusual shape, Mr. Northam struggled to make the furniture fit.
He said: “The biggest challenge I had with it was that it’s quite an unusual shape, so it was difficult to find things that would fit here correctly.”
“I had to cut a lot of pieces of wood to make it fit.
“The shape of the fuselage is not quite circular, so it was a bit difficult to work with.”
