Said Jammal set to do the unthinkable in 1999 when he started the construction of a very conspicuous edifice in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to please his wife and leave a legacy for his family.
Twenty years down the line and still under construction, though occupied, the uniqueness of “Aeroplane house” gets the eyes of residents and visitors turning.
“My wife loves to travel and to keep her close to me, my lovely wife, I built the aeroplane for her, so she feels she is always on the plane,” Said told BBC about why he chose that design.
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His son also proudly spoke about the popular building and revealed some of his fondest memories when construction started.
“This is not just an aeroplane house for us, this is our home. I grew up in Jos and it’s where I was born,” he said.
“I was barely 12 years when my dad started building the house, so any time we returned from school in Jos, we would come here and dig with shovel and digger. We would plant the trees you see behind me. In those days, we had just one room downstairs. It’s where we stayed whenever we came. Slowly he kept building it. This year makes it 20.”
About why his father decided to build such an unorthodox house, he said: “For my father, it was something that he wanted to leave a legacy behind both in Nigeria and internationally because he wanted to do something that everybody will see and ask: ‘Who built that house?’”
Take a look at the amazing video below:
"My wife loves to travel, so I built the aeroplane (house) for her."
Said Jammal wanted his wife to always feel like she was living the jet set life, so he built this special home in Abuja, Nigeria especially for her. ✈? pic.twitter.com/GUOqc6ynTb
— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) January 2, 2020
