Have you ever dreamed of living inside an airplane? Now you can, thanks to a Boeing 727 home in Texas that has captured the attention of avgeeks everywhere.
Through the years, aviation enthusiasts have converted everything from jetliner fuselages to control towers into living spaces. But this one is different.
Tucked deep into Texas’s Big Bend Country, the “Infinite Skies Retreat” combines the spirit of flight with the solitude of the desert. And solitary it is…this place is in the middle of nowhere.
Built in 2023, the property sits on 80 acres near Terlingua, a remote mining ghost town roughly 75 miles from the Mexico-US border and about 15 minutes from the entrance to Big Bend National Park. The home measures 3,040 square feet and features four bedrooms, three full bathrooms, and enough space to sleep eleven people. Despite being off-grid, it has electricity, fiber internet, and plenty of creature comforts. So, even in the desert, you will still be able to stream live ATC.
Inside, aviation imagery fills the walls, from cockpit prints to aerial photography. A covered deck and patio overlook the rugged Texas landscape, while a wet bar, home theater with reclining airplane seats, and a dedicated home office make it a fully functional retreat. The property hit the market on 11 August 2025, with an asking price of $2.1 million.
From the outside, you’d never guess that part of this home once cruised at 35,000 feet. Step through the doors, though, and your eyes are immediately drawn to a 40-foot section of the forward fuselage of a Boeing 727, cockpit and all.
How One AvGeek Built His Dream Airplane House
The idea for the Boeing 727 home in Texas comes from 35-year-old Adam Baker, an avgeek and operations planner for Southwest Airlines in Dallas. In an interview with luxury real estate website Mansion Global, Baker explained that he had dreamed of building a home like this for ten years.
In 2019, Baker paid $60,000 for a piece of vacant desert land featuring its own mountain and a few arroyos. Drawn to the remoteness and beauty of the Big Bend region and the Christmas Mountains, he decided to create something that reflected both his love of aviation and his desire for solitude.
That’s when he found his centerpiece: a retired FedEx Boeing 727-233/Adv, once registered as N266FE. Most recently, the jet had been used as a classroom by California Baptist University’s aviation science department in Riverside.
Getting a Boeing 727 Fuselage from California to Texas
Baker bought it for $30,000, cut it into pieces, and had it trucked from California to Texas. With the help of a crane, he set the fuselage on a custom steel-frame structure that forms the lower level of the home.
Inside the 727 section, Baker built a bedroom and lounge area that still look and feel like an aircraft cabin. The upper level includes additional bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room with sweeping desert views. He estimates the total project cost at more than $1 million.
To complete the experience, Baker added finishing touches that only an avgeek would appreciate: working taxiway lights along the driveway, old Southwest Airlines passenger seats in the theater, and an illuminated control panel that glows as if ready for pushback. The effect makes visitors feel like they’re on the flight deck, not standing in the middle of the Texas desert.
Baker named his creation the Infinite Skies Retreat, and while he lives in Dallas, his hope is for the home to continue as a high-end vacation rental for aviation enthusiasts from around the world.
The History Behind This Boeing 727
The aircraft at the center of this Boeing 727 home in Texas has an impressive pedigree.
Built in 1979, the Boeing 727-233/Adv with manufacturer serial number 21672, first entered service with Air Canada on 1 November of that year as C-GAAS.
For more than a decade, it carried passengers across North America during the heyday of tri-jet travel. When Air Canada retired its last 727s in 1992, this airframe was sold to FedEx and re-registered as N266FE.
FedEx 727-233F/Adv (N266FE)
Delivered on 5 May 1993, it went on to serve as a cargo workhorse for two decades before the freight carrier, once the world’s largest operator of the Boeing 727 (at its peak, FedEx operated 170 of the type), retired its remaining 727 fleet in 2013.
Donated to California Baptist University’s Aviation Science Program
Before its final landing, N266FE was sent to storage at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville (VCV) in 2012. In January 2013, it was donated to California Baptist University’s aviation program at Riverside Municipal Airport (RAL), where it became a static teaching airframe. Its registration was officially canceled the following month.
For several years, the old trijet sat quietly on the university campus until Baker bought it and gave it a new mission. The fuselage section used in the home once housed students studying aircraft systems. Now, it welcomes guests who simply love airplanes.
With its cockpit lights aglow, original panels intact, and panoramic desert views, the Infinite Skies Retreat is so much more than a home. For us avgeeks, it’s a living tribute to aviation history.
From its first flight in 1979 to its retirement and rebirth in 2023, this 727 has experienced nearly half a century of aviation history. For any avgeek with a spare $2.1 million and a love for the open sky, the Infinite Skies Retreat offers a chance to live inside that history—literally.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
- Original listing on Zillow: 700 Gate 9 Rd.
- Property Website: Infinite Skies
- Historical Pictures of Dismantling, Transport, and Building: Gallery Library
