Having never flown on a plane, Chrach Pov turned three decades of savings into a residence suspended on pillars in Cambodia, designed to resemble a private aircraft in the middle of a rural area of Siem Reap
For 30 years, Cambodian mason Chrach Pov set aside part of the money he earned working in construction. The goal was not to buy a conventional property, start a business, or acquire a vehicle, but to build a concrete house resembling the plane he dreamed of piloting since childhood.
The project began to take shape in March 2022, when Pov was already 42 years old. The structure was built in the province of Siem Reap, in northwest Cambodia, with the main body installed six meters above the ground and supported by concrete pillars.
In February 2023, when the project gained international attention, the worker estimated he had invested approximately US$ 20,000. The amount corresponded to the savings accumulated over three decades, but the residence was still not fully completed.
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The construction received windows similar to those of an aircraft, side wings, tail, decorative landing gear, and replicas of engines. Inside the concrete fuselage, the owner organized two bedrooms and two bathrooms, creating a habitable residence where the spaces reproduce part of the visual experience of being aboard a plane. According to Reuters, Pov stated he was thrilled to finally realize the project, although finishes were still missing.
A 20-meter concrete aircraft was built over a rural field
Seen from a distance, the residence resembles a private jet that has just landed in a plantation. The white structure is approximately 20 meters long, four meters wide, and six meters high, dimensions that allowed the creation of corridors and rooms within the body of the faux plane.
The wings, engines, and tail have no aeronautical function. They were molded to complete the external appearance, while large pillars support the part where the bedrooms and bathrooms are located. A metal staircase installed on the side provides access to the main door.
Pov developed the design by observing photographs and numerous videos of private jets on the internet. As he worked in construction, he was able to participate directly in the execution and adapt conventional reinforced concrete techniques to the curved shape of the fuselage.
Reports distributed by AFP described the house as a 20-meter-long construction, equipped with wings, a tail, fake engines, and elements resembling landing gear. The work took almost a year and consumed practically all the financial reserves gathered by the builder.
The dream began when he was still a child and had never been on a plane
The inspiration arose decades before the construction. Pov grew up watching aircraft in the sky and developed the desire to fly, but never had the financial means to take an air trip. The house became a concrete way to keep this idea present in his routine.
The contradiction caught the attention of visitors. Although he built an entire residence inspired by aviation, the Cambodian admitted feeling nervous at the thought of his first real flight. Even so, he declared that he intended to board an aircraft when he had enough money and a defined destination.
The project also gained a family significance. Reports published at the time identified Pov as a widowed father of three children, who could live, sleep, bathe, and eat inside the construction. For him, the property was not just a large-scale sculpture, but a functional home intended for the family.
The AFP agency reported that the worker used practically all his savings on the project. It also reported that visitors began to pay between $0.50 and $1 to enter the property and photograph the house, creating a small source of income from the curiosity aroused by the work.
The house began to attract residents and visitors even before the work was finished
When the first images circulated, people from other areas of Siem Reap began to visit the site. The white fuselage surrounded by fields, palm trees, and rural roads created an unusual scene, especially because the structure seems ready to take off when viewed from certain angles.
Visitors began to climb the stairs, walk through the rooms, and take photographs in front of the wings and engines. In March 2023, images taken at the property showed families visiting the residence and posing at the entrance, even with external parts still in the process of being finished.
The movement led Pov to think about expanding the commercial use of the property. His plan was to build a café next to the house, offering a resting point for those traveling to the region just to see the concrete aircraft.
As reported by The Straits Times, the construction had begun in March 2022 and was still not 100% complete by February of the following year. The owner hoped to take advantage of visitors’ interest without abandoning the residential function of the structure.
The location near Angkor increases the tourist potential of the residence
The house was built near the city of Siem Reap, known as the main gateway to the Angkor Archaeological Park. The region attracts travelers interested in temples, historical buildings, rural communities, and landscapes formed by plantations and palm trees.
Angkor covers about 400 square kilometers and includes temples, reservoirs, canals, ancient roads, and structures built during the Khmer Empire. The complex, listed as a World Heritage Site in 1992, includes monuments such as Angkor Wat, Bayon, Preah Khan, and Ta Prohm, according to UNESCO.
This tourist flow helps explain why a private residence managed to attract visitors shortly after appearing in the news. The house offers an attraction different from the centuries-old monuments of the region, based on a personal story, artisanal construction, and the possibility of entering a residential airplane replica.
The Cambodian Ministry of Tourism identifies Siem Reap as an area strongly linked to tourism in the Angkor Archaeological Park. In this context, the café imagined by Pov could transform the property into a complementary stop for travelers interested in lesser-known attractions outside traditional itineraries.
The builder managed to construct the airplane where he can live, but still wishes to take his first flight
The house does not have turbines, navigation instruments, or any capacity to leave the ground. Despite its appearance, it remains anchored to concrete pillars and was designed to endure as a residential building, not as an aircraft.
The result, however, allowed Pov to recreate part of the experience he had imagined since childhood. He can enter from the side, walk through a fuselage, observe the land through small windows, and live inside a structure with wings, engines, and a tail.
When he shared his story in 2023, the builder still intended to travel in a real airplane. The suspended residence represented the first part of the dream, achieved with 30 years of work, savings, and practical construction experience, but it did not replace the desire to experience real flight.
Would you invest three decades of savings in such a different house or choose a conventional residential project? Leave in the comments what caught your attention the most in Chrach Pov’s construction and tell us if you would visit a concrete house shaped like an airplane.
