A 13-year-old girl persuaded her dad to build a tiny home shaped like an airplane — complete with a kitchenette and real airplane seats. Take a look inside.

Lujza Pados and her father sitting outside of the Jet House. Zsuzsa Darab

Lujza Pados, a 13-year-old from Hungary, has a deep love for traveling and flying. With her father’s support, she took her dream to a design firm, sharing her vision for a plane-themed tiny home.

The result is the Jet House — a 207-square-foot pastel-blue cabin crafted to look like a whimsical toy airplane.

Tucked among the trees in Zala County, Hungary, sits a little girl’s dream brought to life — a baby-blue tiny house designed to look just like an airplane.

Affectionately known as the Jet House, this one-of-a-kind tiny cabin belongs to 13-year-old Lujza Pados.

She had always dreamed of owning a tiny home, and as a passionate aviation lover, a plane-themed design felt like the perfect match.

“I’m kind of obsessed with traveling,” Pados told Insider. “When my family and I talked about me having a little place of my own to relax or spend time with friends, my mind instantly went to how amazing it would be to have something like this.”

When Pados shared her idea with her family, they supported her vision — though it took a bit of convincing to get her father fully on board.

Her father, Balazs Pados, was initially cautious about the project’s scope.

“At first, I thought this was a really crazy idea — starting such a complicated project and potentially investing so much money, especially in a location that’s not particularly famous or expensive in Europe,” he told Insider.

Zala County, in southwestern Hungary, lies roughly 130 miles from the capital, Budapest.

But seeing his daughter’s passion, he couldn’t say no — and soon shared her excitement.

“My dad really got into the idea of having a little house where my sisters and I could have some privacy or even host sleepovers with friends,” Lujza added.

With her father’s encouragement, Pados turned to Hello Wood, a design firm based in Budapest, to help bring her airplane-themed tiny home to life.

“It’s undoubtedly the most fun cabin Hello Wood has ever designed and built,” said Tamás Fülöp, the project’s architect, to Insider. “Designing a building that has to be both ‘adorable’ and ‘cute’ is a challenging yet inspiring task for any architect.”

The Hello Wood team began work on the project in January of last year, completing the Jet House by November.

While the overall project spanned nearly a year, Fülöp noted that the actual construction of the cabin took only about three months.

Pados played an active role in the design process, even bringing her own sketches to illustrate how she envisioned her airplane-themed tiny home.

Her sketches helped Fülöp and his team clearly understand Pados’s vision.

Though she was initially nervous about collaborating with so many adults, she quickly grew comfortable with the process.

“At first, I was completely terrified that they wouldn’t listen to my wants and needs, but they were friendly and delivered everything I could’ve asked for — and more,” Pados said.

By the end of the project, the experience had boosted her confidence.

“Now I can tell people what I like and don’t like without worrying about them saying something mean,” she added.

“To capture the cartoon-like feel of the original concept, we decided to design the cabin to resemble a larger-than-life designer toy,” Fülöp explained.

To make the interior feel authentically airplane-like, Fülöp and his team incorporated space-saving features similar to those on a real plane, including overhead compartments.

The total floor area of the Jet House is about 207 square feet, not counting the wings or the stairs leading to the entrance, Fülöp explained.

Despite its compact size, the tiny home includes a kitchenette, a living area, a bathroom, and even a double bed tucked into the nose of the plane.

“It was important that the interior captured the same atmosphere as the exterior,” Fülöp said. “We weren’t just furnishing a house — we were creating an airplane.”

Even the seating area of the tiny house features authentic airplane seats, adding to the cabin’s realistic flight-inspired design.

Together with her father, Pados discovered a website selling furniture and décor salvaged from retired airplanes.

“We ordered two seats from there, and even a lamp made from the windows of an actual plane,” she added.

Although Hello Wood has been designing tiny houses since 2018, this was their first project working with a young client like Pados.

In fact, Pados is Hello Wood’s youngest client to date, as she was only 12 when the project began, Fülöp noted.

“Designing for her was a fantastic experience because she eagerly participated in every meeting and contributed so many ideas,” he said.

He added that her perspective was refreshing, offering insights very different from those of the real estate developers the team usually works with.

Other tiny houses Hello Wood has designed include an A-frame cabin, a pebble-shaped mini pod, and the Wauhaus — a rectangular cabin on stilts. Prices vary depending on the size and complexity of each design, with turnkey cabins starting at around $2,280 per square meter.

To give the Jet House a more lifelike feel, the structure is elevated on stilts, mimicking how a real airplane sits above the ground on its wheels, Fülöp explained.

The airplane tiny house consists of over a thousand prefabricated pieces, Fülöp said.

The frame is made of plywood, and the entire house is covered in a waterproof protective coating, he said.

“This is important because ordinary drainage and closing steel accessories like tin plating cannot appear on a shape like this in order to retain the clean silhouette,” Fülöp added.

The finished Jet House sits beside the Pados family’s vacation home, nestled among the trees.

Even before the tiny house was built, we spent a lot of time there, and we just love it because it’s close to nature and incredibly peaceful and relaxing,” Pados said. “Even though it’s a two-hour drive from our home, it’s totally worth it for that feeling.”

Pados and her father also hope to eventually lease the Jet House as a vacation rental, so others can enjoy the space as much as they do. However, they haven’t yet decided when that will happen.

“I think bringing this project to life was a fantastic idea, because it definitely brought my father and me closer,” Pados said.

While they chose not to reveal the exact cost of the project, Pados’ father acknowledged that it exceeded his initial budget.

“Initially, I thought €50,000 would be enough, but naturally, the project ended up costing more,” he said. “But honestly, how much is it worth for a father to see his daughter smile?”

Credits: Bussines Insider