Airbnb and a million-dollar idea

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.

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 travellers all over the world.

“The only thing better than pushing the boundaries of style, is empowering others to do the same,” says 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 first hand.”

“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, adding, “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 per cent 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 the 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), and Cabana Floripa (Santa Catarina, Brazil). 

A chance to enter the Unique Airbnb Fund is now open until 9. 29 am IST on April 16 (11.59 pm, EST April 15 ). The 10 winners will be selected by May 15, by the panel of judges mentioned above. For more information, log on to the Airbnb website.