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‘It was a nightmare’: why world’s first luxury villa in a plane, in Bali, was so tough to build, according to the Russian entrepreneur who envisioned it

  • Built in an old Boeing 737-200 on the edge of a cliff, the Private Jet Villa is one of the world’s most unique residences, renting for up to US$6,500 a night
  • Russian property developer Felix Demin explains why it was so incredibly hard to make a reality, adding that he won’t be building another one – despite demand

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Russian property developer Felix Demin’s Private Jet Villa, built in a retired Boeing 737-200 and overlooking Nyang Nyang Beach, on Bali’s south coast, Indonesia, is one of the world’s most unique residences. Photo: Felix Demin

In the cult British television series Grand Designs, presenter Kevin McCloud followed the progress of high-end construction projects, adding colour and drama by noting the usual hitches, delays and cost overruns.

More than a showcase for wow-factor architecture, the series offered insight into the emotional roller coaster owner-builders go through while doggedly pursuing their dreams.

In 2021, the then 30-year-old Russian property developer Felix Demin had an idea to build a Grand Designs-worthy project of his own after discovering an old Boeing 737-200 that had mysteriously ended up in a quarry not far from the airport in his adopted home of Bali, Indonesia.

After identifying and striking a deal with the owner – an Australian who bought the Boeing a decade before with the idea of turning it into a nightclub – Demin relocated it to a narrow plot of land he’d leased on the dramatic sea cliffs overlooking Nyang Nyang Beach, on Bali’s south coast.

The glass-sided swimming pool is cantilevered over the sea cliffs. Photo: Felix Demin
The glass-sided swimming pool is cantilevered over the sea cliffs. Photo: Felix Demin

His plan: to build the world’s first luxury villa inside a retired passenger jet complete with rock-star features such as an all-white interior, a jacuzzi in the cockpit and a sunset terrace on the ocean-facing wing.

The sheer originality of the plan, coupled with a handful of awe-inspiring drone shots of the Boeing in situ on the dramatic sea cliffs, garnered global media attention, featuring in hundreds of travel magazines and websites.

Ian Lloyd Neubauer is a freelance journalist and photojournalist with 20 years experience covering news, business, property, investigations and travel. His photos of subjects as strange as the smoked corpses of the highlands of Papua New Guinea and places as beautiful as the blue city of Morocco have been published in newspapers, magazines and websites around the world. He's also the author of two books – Getafix (2003) and Maquis (2006).
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