I’m selling my off-grid eco-property for £40k… my kitchen is recycled and VERY cheap – but it may raise a few eyebrows
A CHEF is selling his off-grid eco-property for £40,000 – featuring a recycled and very cheap kitchen which may raise a few eyebrows.
Andrew Mellon has put his home up for auction after using lockdown to transform it during the Covid-19 pandemic.
And potential buyers could be taken aback by how he made the open-plan kitchen – using parts of a Boeing 737 aeroplane.
He found the aircraft’s galley available online on eBay for just £149.
Benefits of the solar panel-powered environmentally-friendly home include stunning sea views, living space and a sleeper loft.
There is also a building plot next door with planning permission for three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
But Andrew, a 55-year-old chef, is especially proud of that unusual kitchen inside the home in Banff, Aberdeenshire in Scotland.
The Boeing 737’s galley was built into the space and he kitted it out with a commercial gas cooking range and stainless steel counters.
He said: “I had the need for a cost-effective kitchen when I found the galley unit on eBay.
“When it arrived, it was even more amazing than I imagined.
“It fitted the space perfectly, and I had some stainless steel counters made – I can store up to 1,000 items in the unit.”
Elsewhere in the eco-home there’s a bathroom and bunk room/storeroom below the sleeper loft – though both need finishing or redesigning depending on the new owner’s tastes.
Andrew believes it would make a “fantastic” place to rent out to holiday-makers, especially if the buyers take advantage of the accompanying plot.
He said: “It’s a great little place and would be a great holiday rental, being close to town.
“It has great potential with the planning permission for bedrooms and bathrooms which would have amazing sea views.”
The property is due for online auction with Online Property Auctions Scotland on November 2 at 9am, for offers of at least £40,000.
Other homeowners who have made inventive use of Boeing 737 parts include a university lecturer in Hampshire who bought an aircraft’s front half to turn into two-storey Airbnb accommodation.
Earlier this year another Boeing 737 plane opened its doors as a luxury hotel called the Private Jet Villa in Bali.
Meanwhile, a man from the US state of Oregon spent £200,000 on a Boeing 737 he converted to live in.
And former Boeing 747s have also been given eye-catching makeovers, repurposing them as cafes, party pads and hotels.