Oregon man bought an entire Boeing 737 from a salvage yard just to live in it
Published on Jun 17, 2025 at 8:26 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Jun 18, 2025 at 2:00 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
A retired electrical engineer from Hillsboro, Oregon, has a living arrangement that probably won’t take off anytime soon – his home is a converted Boeing 737 that he bought from a salvage yard.
The unique airplane home was Bruce Campbell’s lifelong dream – but he thought it was pie in the sky.
He finally made his dream a reality in 1999 when he bought a Boeing 737 for $100,000.
However, living on an aircraft isn’t the weirdest part of this story.
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While any Boeing 737 is an address that will raise eyebrows – this aircraft had a history that made it a little more noteworthy than your average airplane.
The plane, which he found in a salvage yard in Greece, once transported the remains of Aristotle Onassis, who owned an airline.
For those who aren’t brushed up on their US history, he was the second husband of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
The former First Lady married the Greek businessman after the death of her first husband, President John F. Kennedy.
In addition to the initial $100,000 for the plane, transporting the aircraft from Greece to the 10 acres of land he bought in Hillsboro cost him $120,000.
The expansive plot of land itself cost him $25,800.
Then, because he wanted extra legroom, the renovations necessary to make the jet a home set Campbell back more than $15,000.
Fulfilling your dreams, however, is priceless.
“When you live in a structure like this, you feel a little more fulfilled with your life,” he told CNBC.
He believes the aircraft to be an elegant, structurally superior, and fulfilling living space, especially for those who appreciate aerospace technology.
The result was around 1,066 square feet of living space, which includes the cockpit, main cabin, and two bathrooms. However, some private planes are already palaces in the sky.
His minimalist setup includes a microwave, toaster oven, and a futon/sofa workbench instead of traditional furniture and kitchen appliances.
He allows self-guided outdoor tours any day during daylight hours and interior tours if he’s available.
However, while his setup is rare – but not unique, as this converted airplane home in Alaska proves – Campbell believes this could be a future trend for housing and wants to repurpose more planes globally.
Campbell advocates repurposing retired jetliners as sustainable living spaces instead of letting them be scrapped.
Rather than Greece, though, he hopes to acquire additional jets from salvage yards in Japan and New Zealand.
Want to try it for yourself? This Boeing 727 was rescued from an aircraft graveyard and transformed into a stunning Airbnb that you can stay in.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
