If you wander through the woods surrounding Portland, Oregon and find yourself near the city's
western Hillsboro suburb, you might come across a strange sight.
Hidden between the pines, propped up on two massive concrete pillars - is a Boeing 727 passenger jetliner.
At first, you might think it has crash landed there and had been salvaged. but in actuality, the plane has been placed there very intentionally, by one man with a very unique vision.
Who is this person, and why has he bought and placed a perfectly good plane in the middle of a forest?
Read on to find out!
If you look at aerial photos of the woods in south-western Hillsboro, you might come across a curious shape tucked away between the fields and trees.
In a small stretch of unobtrusive, cleared out land, rests a Boeing 727.
Between the 1960s and late '80s, Boeing 727s were some of the most widely used planes by major international airlines - but, as they began to be phased out in the 1990s, their prices dropped.
Retired planes are usually ground up for scraps - but in 1999, a man by the name of Bruce Campbell purchased one of these iconic jetliners - with very specific plans in mind.
A Boeing 727-200 stands at 34 feet and 11 inches (a little over 10.5 meters) tall, boasts a wingspan of 108 feet (32 meters), a length of 153 feet and two inches (nearly 47 meters) and a floor space of 1,066 square feet.
That's a pretty large space of sleek, industrial design to be found in a forest - but as far as Bruce Campbell is concerned, that's exactly the point.
He bought the plane for around $100,000 shortly before it was scheduled to be scrapped, and, after meticulous planning, positioned it in a stretch of land that he bought back in the 1970s.
So who is Bruce Campbell, and what were his plans for the plane?
Campbell is a retired, 65-year-old electrical engineer.
When he purchased his Boeing 727, he did so with one simple purpose: to live in it.
“When properly executed," Bruce explains, "the remarkable appeal of a retired jetliner as a home springs from the magnificent technology and beauty of the sculptured structure itself. Jetliners are masterful works of aerospace science, and their superlative engineering grace is unmatched by any other structures people can live within. They’re incredibly strong, durable, and long lived. And they easily withstand any earthquake or storm."
Since he first brought the plane to his little plot of land, Bruce has been tinkering with it.
The 727, which, aside from its engines, stands almost completely intact, serves as a huge canvas for the retired electrical engineer's creative inclinations.
Changing lighting, wiring and other systems, Bruce has managed to convert the plane into more than just a fully functioning home - it is, in his words, an “aerospace class castle."
But what does that castle look like when you climb up the plane's stairs?
When we think of passenger jetliners, we think of cramped legroom and being stuffed like sardines between sweaty strangers.
But when you clear a plane of its seating and take a moment to walk through it, you begin to realize just how huge commercial aircraft really are.
With its huge floorspace, a Boeing 727 can carry up to nearly 200 passengers, their luggage - as well as a flight crew, food trolleys, emergency equipment and more.
When all of that is cleared away, what's left is essentially a huge hall, ready to be used in whatever creative ways its owners can come up with. And Bruce Campbell is nothing if not creative.
Bruce considers his Boeing 727 his home, but it is much more than that, as well.
In addition to being a tinkerer's dream, the plane also serves as a creative outlet not just for Bruce, but also for the creative community in Portland.
Some of Bruce's most popular and visible events are musical shows he organizes with the help of fellow creatives, called "Turbulence Live" and "Concert on a Wing."
In these events, audiences are invited to the forest, to experience live shows - with the plane's wings serving as stages.
Bruce lives on his Boeing 727 alone - but he's never lonely.
The plane's extensive floorspace and infrastructure offer ample space for multiple people, and Bruce doesn't hesitate to share.
Often, backpackers and curious adventurers stay over for several nights, and Bruce happily shares his shelter with them. He insists no compensation is necessary, and if you happen to be in the area, he would gladly share his home, providing you email him ahead of time!
While Bruce has ecological and other reasons for living in an airplane, a big bonus is the sheer fun it provides the retired, 65-year-old electrical engineer.
“It’s a great toy," Bruce says. "Trick doors, trick floors. Hatches here, latches there. Cool interior lights. Awesome exterior lights, sleek gleaming appearance, titanium ducts… It’s a constant exploratory adventure, ever entertaining, providing fundamental sustenance for an old technology nerd like me. Having lots of little toys is very fulfilling. Having lots of little toys enclosed in a very big toy is nirvana.”
When Bruce bought the plane, he tried to keep it as fully functional as he could - with one important reservation: the plane's engines were removed.
Purchasing the plane with its engines intact would have made it much, much more expensive, and since Bruce had no intention of moving the plane ever again, after he positioned it in his little stretch of land, he decided he could do without them.
But while the engines are missing, the rest of the plane's systems is present and entirely functional.
The plane provides endless nooks and crannies for Bruce to explore and convert into functional spaces. But since there is so much space, and Bruce is a naturally frugal man, much of the plane's compartments remain empty, just waiting for him to come up with creative ideas to use them for.
If you wander through Bruce's part of the forest and climb into the plane, you might not find him right away - but rest assured, he's probably crawling around somewhere inside the plane's structure.
Living on a jet plane comes with its fair share of perks - as well as challenges.
Because the plane is pressurized, there's hardly any need to clean it from the inside, as it rarely gets dusty and no insects can crawl inside its fuselage.
Still, being placed in the middle of a forest, it does get covered in leaves and foliage, and the exterior requires some extreme cleaning measures:
Every two years, Bruce brings out a high-pressure water hose and hoses down the planes body, forcing out any growths or dirt that may have accumulated in hard to reach spaces.
Image by Great Big Story/Youtube
In 1999, the Greek airline, Olympic Airlines, retired its last Boeing 727-200.
Bruce knew that this was the model of plane that he wanted, and had been scouring the international market for a retired plane for several years at that point.
With the help of a salvage company, Bruce purchased the plane, had it flown from Athens, Greece, to Portland, and began the process of dismantling it… and transporting it to his stretch of forest.
But how much did the plane cost?
Bruce had purchased the plane for $100,000 - but that was before he had to transport it, dismantle it, and work on rewiring and refurbishing it after the salvage company was done gutting it for anything they deemed valuable.
At the end of the process, Bruce had spent over $220,000 of his hard-earned money on the plane - but he ultimately couldn't be happier with his decision.
Looking back at the decisions he's made when purchasing the plane, Bruce now says he would have done things differently.
In an attempt to save money, he allowed a salvage company to pick through the plane, taking seats, electronic systems and even food trolleys before he placed the plane on his property.
In retrospect, Bruce feels like this was a mistake.
He feels that planes are such marvelous feats of design and engineering, that taking anything out of them - except, of course, the engines - is a shame, even when attempting to convert them into homes.
But what good would feelings of regret do him?
It's not like he's planning on buying another plane… right?
Well - not exactly.
After the salvage company had gone through Bruce's plane, not much was left for him to work with.
When they were done, even the plane's carpeting was gone - leaving the aircraft's plexiglass flooring exposed, allowing visitors to peer down into the plane's hold.
A lot of the bulkheads and paneling were gone as well - and ultimately, this meant that Bruce would spend the next several years searching for spare parts - or manufacturing his own.
But, as it turns out, this would all prove to be an invaluable learning experience for Bruce's future plans…
In addition to the work the salvage company had done, Bruce did some dismantling on his own.
To make the plane's interior roomier, he decided to remove the overhead compartments - which also entailed disconnecting some of the lights, as well as the call buttons, oxygen masks, PA system and AC, which were all interconnected.
It was a lot of work, and when it was done, it left a lot of wiring exposed - another problem Bruce had to deal with.
Luckily for him, this kind of tinkering was a big part of the appeal of this project in the first place!
The more Bruce explored the spaces his new home had to offer, the more he started to feel like the learning experience of repurposing a jetliner into a house was just a means of preparing for another, bigger project.
It wasn't yet clear to him what that project would be, but he knew that with his newfound experience and insights, it would be big - and impressive.
Bruce Campbell may live in a retired airplane in Oregon, but he also has a life in Japan.
He splits his year between the two locations, six months here and six months there.
But while he loves living in the Land of the Rising Sun, his passion for hist "aerospace castle" keeps him coming back to the forests of Oregon, time after time.
But in recent years, he's started thinking about something that would allow him to live both in Oregon and Japan, and still have an airplane home, year round.
Bruce's current home, the Boeing 727-200 he bought in 1999 and placed in his small patch of land in the forests of Oregon, will never fly again.
Its repurposing and reconstruction have grounded it for good - but that doesn't mean Bruce won't be able live in a jet in Japan.
Bruce has a plan to bring his unique jet setting lifestyle to Japan - but it doesn't entail flying his home there.
Although Bruce's plane will never fly again, he still loves spending time in the cockpit.
A self-professed technology nerd, rewiring the cockpit's wealth of buttons, switches and levers to perform different functions in his home is an endless project that he takes great pleasure in - but perhaps the coolest thing he's done with his cockpit was to turn it into his home entertainment center.
This hyper technological setting is a great backdrop for watching science fiction - imagine watching Star Trek or Star Wars from the pilot's seat!
Bruce's plans for Japan are simple:
He wants to build an airplane home on Japanese soil - but this time, he wants to build it bigger, better and more faithful to the original plane's interior design.
He has his sights set on an older model of Boeing's 747 jetliners, and is scouring the internet for planes that are about to be decommissioned.
This time around, he says, he won't work with a salvage company, but rather, will try to keep as much of the plane as possible - except, once more, for its engines.
This time around, Bruce wants to keep everything inside the plane - even airline doilies and napkins, if possible!
But while this will add to the plane's overall costs, Bruce hopes to cut costs by buying the plane from a Japanese airline - a move which will significantly reduce moving costs and potential damage to the plane as it is transferred to its new home.
While the plane is always clean and roomy, there is one challenge Bruce has had to deal with when occupying what is, essentially, a long metal tube with wings: climate control.
Oregon winters are notoriously long - and cold. And while Bruce has found adequate ways to heat up the rear of the plane, its front end can get quite chilly - even approaching outside, below freezing temperatures at times.
This wouldn't be a problem if Bruce just had the plane to himself - but visitors who lodge there in the winter months should definitely come prepared.
Currently, one of Bruce's biggest projects on the plane is getting temperature control back online.
Considering a plane's air conditioning systems are linked to its engine functions, this isn't a trivial undertaking - but Bruce, ever the tinkerer, is working hard at it, and hopes to get things back, up and running, sometime soon.
Until then, he tries to bundle up as best he can!
While Bruce's plane may be very different from a "regular" home in many ways, in many other ways, it's just like any other home - and when you spend enough time there, the novelty can sometimes wear off.
Familiar house chores like vacuuming, dusting and cleaning are an integral part of living on a Boeing 727, and Bruce is so casual about it, even first-time visitors can sometimes forget they're in one of the most unique houses on the planet.
Most planes don't come equipped with a shower - which means that Bruce had to improvise one himself.
Towards the rear of the plane, Bruce has managed to set up a fully functioning shower, with both hot and cold water - which he draws from a nearby well with an electric pump.
While it may look like a makeshift operation, the shower has been serving Bruce for years - and he is currently working on running hot water pipes throughout the rest of the plane as well.
Despite his somewhat eccentric choice of a house, Bruce isn't shy or reclusive at all.
He's so at ease with people, in fact, that when strangers visit his home, they can sometimes catch a glimpse of him taking a shower in the non-compartmentalized shower area.
Still, Bruce appreciates some people may not be as comfortable taking showers in front of others as he is, and will gladly leave the plane if his guests ask him to when they want to wash up.
Bruce is quite a frugal person by nature, and his kitchen is, perhaps, the one area of his house which reflects this aspect of his personality the most.
His kitchen is quite basic, containing nothing more than a toaster and a microwave, but Bruce makes do - and is able to maintain a healthy diet, as well as an active lifestyle.
While Bruce does have a fridge on board, most of his food is non-perishable, consisting of boxed cereal, canned preserves and dry goods.
While this may seem pretty spartan, he does go out of his way to buy vegetables and other goods, and he never finds himself wanting for much.
Many of the people who visit him and stay over for several days also like to buy food and treat Bruce to meals they prepare, as well.
One part of the original plane Bruce was not willing to give up were the toilets.
What's a plane without its special, aerospace toilet seats?
Bruce managed to hook up the original toilets, as well as the sinks, to his hand-built plumbing system - and takes great pride in the fact that they work smoothly and without any kinks or issues.
Still, these bathrooms are a little more "lived-in" than your average plane's, and, just like the rest of his home, feel cozy and comfortable - and even have space heaters installed for those cold winter nights!
There's no doubt that Bruce Campbell has chosen an odd home for his retirement - but while it may strike many as a strange project that provides more work and sacrifice than any other type of home you could imagine, for Bruce, his airplane house provides the perfect habitat.
If you're wondering what it took to build his house, and what projects he has planned next, Bruce has built a website where he updates the world about his projects:
AirplaneHome.com
And whatever you might think, it's impossible to deny that he did things his way.
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