Recycling an Airplane as a Residential Compound

High in the coastal mountains of southern California, a Boeing 747 has made its final landing. Its wings were cut in two and flown in by helicopter to this remote wilderness site, where they were re-assembled and craned onto a steel frame to serve as roofs for two residential structures. Eventually, the Wing House may be joined by a meditation pavilion in the nose cone, a guest house, art studio and animal barn in sections of the fuselage, and a viewing platform canopied by the tail, scattered around the 22-hectare ranch. It’s the creation of architect David Hertz, who has spent his 30 years of practice recycling industrial materials to conserve energy and natural resources. Giving new life to an airplane was a logical culmination of his earlier efforts. The commission came by chance. Francie Rehwald, a former Mercedes dealer with a taste for risk, acquired the ranch of the late Tony Duquette, an eccentric LA designer who turned junk into jewelry and movie sets. The house he built here was destroyed in a wildfire, leaving only a few isolated follies. Rehwald checked Hertz’s previous buildings, took him on a wild ride around the site, and hired him on the spot. “I love your work but I see it as masculine, angular and blocky,” she cautioned. “I want something that’s more curvilinear and feminine.” Inspiration struck at the conclusion of a long flight to Europe. As Hertz recalls, “I was jet- lagged on arrival, and I began sketching - starting with the roof, as my mentor, John Lautner, would have done. Like him I imagined standing on a ridge beneath a roof that floated over a room enclosed with glass. I drew a curved ceiling, like a boat or a surfboard and it reminded me of the laminar flow of air over an airplane wing. Then it occurred to me: why not use a wing? It cantilevers off its fuselage; it uses materials efficiently to achieve strength and lightness. On the flight home I photographed the wings of airplanes in detail, finding shapes that were undeniably...

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