Airbnb is searching for the world’s wildest home ideas – and has launched a $1 million fund to make them a reality. The Unique Airbnb Fund is the company’s first-ever $1 million program designed to find and help finance the most unconventional and unusual livable spaces on the planet. Ten recipients of the Unique Airbnb Fund will be selected by an expert panel of design and style innovators, including Emmy®, Tony and GRAMMY Award-winning actor Billy Porter, Airbnb Superhost Kristie Wolfe, of the famed Big Idaho Potato Hotel, and global and cutting-edge architecture firm MVRDV.
Starting today, design enthusiasts can submit their proposals at airbnb.com/uniquefund. All submissions will be scored against criteria based on creativity, feasibility, sustainability and social good (more found here). Inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of the company’s three co-founders, the Unique Airbnb Fund is meant to enable anyone with an extraordinary house idea to design and build it into a reality, and share it with travelers all over the world.
“The only thing better than pushing the boundaries of style, is empowering others to do the same,” says style icon, Billy Porter. “I’m thrilled to join Airbnb in this global search for the most outrageous, spectacular home ideas ever. I can’t wait to see these concepts developed by design lovers from around the world firsthand.”
“The Unique Airbnb Fund is a great initiative that makes hospitality exciting. It will empower people to create new spaces with daring, imaginative and fantastic architecture,” says MVRDV partner Fokke Moerel. “Personal wunderkammers will be created for guests to appreciate and be inspired by.”
Searches for unexpected and unique spaces – such as shepherds huts, windmills and tiny houses – have increased by nearly 70 percent over last year on Airbnb.* Some of the most booked listings of all time include domes, RVs, treehouses, and yurts across the world.** Applicants can draw inspiration from a plethora of unconventional Airbnb stays, including:
- An Elephant-Sized Stay on the Jersey Shore (Margate City, New Jersey)
- The Boot – Fairytale Accommodation (Nelson, New Zealand)
- Big Idaho Potato Hotel (Boise, Idaho)
- Camaya Bali Suboya – Magical Bamboo House (Bali, Indonesia)
- Sheep Wagon at Shash Dine (Page, Arizona)
- Beautiful Dome with Mountain Views (Rio Negro, Argentina)
- UFO Futuro styled Flying Saucer (Redberth, UK)
- Cabane Spa Zen (Raray, France)
- Cabana Floripa (Santa Catarina, Brazil)
A chance to enter the Unique Airbnb Fund is now open until 11:59pm EST on April 15, 2020. The ten winners will be selected by the panel of judges mentioned above by May 15, 2020. For more information, see the Official Rules.
*Based on internal Airbnb data measuring year-over-year growth of searches for unique listings as of February 2020 vs. 2019.
**Based on internal Airbnb data measuring the most booked unique listings as of February 2020.
