Couple’s tiny airship house becomes top rented Airbnb UK property
A couple's small airship-style house has become one of the UK's most booked Airbnbs - and it took just 10 days to build.
Roderick James, 75, an architect, and his interior designer wife Amanda Markham, designed and built the AirShip 002 in 2018.
If you're looking for a British mini break with a difference, the remote yet cosy pad looks like a futuristic airship and features amazing floor to ceiling Highland views.
But you'll have to be quick to snap it up as the £165-a-night accommodation, in Drimnin, Scotland, was the most wish-listed Airbnb rental in the UK in 2020 and secures bookings over a year in advance.
The project, built as part of their company Out of the Blue Ltd, cost a reasonable £100k, but has already made its money back after being listed for rental five years ago.
"We designed the AirShip 002 just for fun at first, but then a perfect plot came up and we decided to build on it," James explains.
"At first we weren't intending to let it. We just thought it would be an ideal location but then it became incredibly popular," he adds.
James says the concept for the project was a brand new design, which had never been done before.
"We wanted to build something that could be built anywhere and any part of the structure can be carried by two people," he explains.
"It has over 3000 components which were computer laser cut in the factory which took three to four months. But then the actual structure went up in 10 days on site."
James believes that in future all housing will become increasingly modular, like the AirShip.
"The structure has everything you could need," he says. "It can even be off-grid with a compost toilet and rainwater can be collected from the roof and stored under the floor panels.
"The dragonfly window breaks up the view in such an extraordinary way. Everyone who stays here wishes they could stay for longer. It really is a special place."
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And while it may be small, the property features all the luxuries of a home, including a living room, kitchenette, bathroom, and even a fireplace.
Following the success of the AirShip, the couple have now embarked on two other tiny house projects to rent on the home renting site.
The Pilot House PH5, an aluminium structure with 360 degree views, was completed after just six months of building in September 2020.
This was followed by the creation of The Captain's Cabin in January 2021, which sits on the large balcony deck on the roof of an old chapel building on the same site as the other projects and is also proving very popular.
Whilst the exterior of this project is similarly clad in corrugated aluminium, the interior is more textural and cosy with re-used timber and a nautical theme.
All of the couple's quirky builds feature stunning views and fresh spring water, but it is the properties' unique shape that they attribute some of their success to.
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The couple live nearby in another house they designed themselves called Eagle Rock and all of their properties have unusual elliptical, oval shapes.
"People seem to feel very comfortable in these shapes," James explains. "Sandi Toksvig described it as ‘like a womb with a view!’ There are no sharp corners and as a result people feel very secure.
"The views add an enormous amount too," he continues. "If you have a very small space, but a big view, it works very well."
You can book a stay at the AirShip, the Captain’s Cabin or the PilotHouse here.
Additional reporting SWNS.
