747 Home!!

We probably all saw the news item during the week about the woman who is building a house of of old B742 parts, but her project has now taken an interesting turn… Read more below…

A Californian woman attempting to make a home out of a retired Boeing 747 has been told by the US Federal Aviation Administration to use clear markings on the fuselage parts to avoid alarming passengers flying into Los Angeles international aiport (LAX).

Francie Rehwald approached architect David Hertz to construct an environmentally-friendly home out of recycled industrial waste and he hit upon the idea of using scrapped 747 fuselages. However, Hertz’s design envisages a “strewn” look for the parts visible above ground, giving the appearance, say the FAA, of a crash site.

Hertz acquired a former Tower Air 747-200 from Mojave-based Aviation Warehouse for around $100,000 and converted it into his design. The junked 747 has been cut apart, with the wings providing the roof, the fuselage the main shell and the nose a meditation temple.

Hertz has used other parts to make six additional buildings for Rehwald, a Mercedes-Benz dealership heiress, to indulge her hobbies including yoga, organic gardening and animal husbandry. The ailerons will be used to control the patio awning.

It is these additional outstations that gave the FAA concern, as the eight buildings in total could be construed as a crash site. The Malibu site lies under an LAX flight path and the agency raised official concerns at a Ventura County planning permission hearing. Hertz has agreed to paint identifier numbers on the wing pieces to alert pilots that the Rehwald house is not a crash.

Rehwald says she wanted the $2 million home to be “feminine, with lots of curves.”