Over the years, John Travolta has done quite a lot of impressive things in his career. From starring in some of the biggest blockbuster hits in his career to his philanthropic work. However, one of the most out-of-the-box things that he has done in the past couple of years includes buying a house just so he could freely park his private jet collection in front of his home! Here is a look at how he turned one of his homes into a private aviation base with access to a personal airport.
In 2001, John Travolta bought Florida property worth USD 10 million for private airport access
In 2001, Travolta and his late wife Kelly Preston spent a whopping USD 10 million on a Florida plot that provided them with their own private aeroplane runway! Travolta is a well-known aviation buff and needed some space to park his high-end collection of private jets. Built on the 550-acre Jumbolair Aviation Estates, he was reportedly one of the first people to buy the plot in the aviation community.Hello! reported that the community area currently houses Travolta’s USD 10 million home, along with a 3,600-foot runway, a 7,600-square-foot mansion, formerly owned by horse breeder Muriel Vanderbilt, an 8,700-square-foot conference centre, and seventeen unsold estates with runway access.
More about the interior of the house that he built with his late wife, Kelly Preston
Travolta and Kelly Preston remodelled the house according to their vision, building everything from the ground up. After her passing, Travolta and their daughter, Ella, live on the compound. The home is built in an open area and has five bedrooms, five-and-a-half bathrooms, open-plan living areas, and a private pool in the garden. Not only that, but many photos and videos that have been shared of his home online, along with what he and his daughter, Ella, already post on their Instagram accounts, show that Travolta quite literally has two of his private jets parked in his backyard.On top of that, Travolta and Preston made use of a large garage space they had that could originally house 16 cars. The garage area was later turned into a parkour-style gym for his son, Ben, to safely practice in every day. The swimming area also has a pool slide, along with a golf course as well. In an interview with Architectural Digest, one of the designers of his home, HH, shared, “The pool cabana is a grown-up playroom. John wanted to use it for dancing, which is why it has a big open space and stone flooring.” Further on in the interview, Travolta himself described his beloved Florida space by sharing, “I can’t call it modern—it’s really a midcentury-style home.”The actor also shared that while he had private access to the runway needed to take off, he built a taxiway that connected his home to his airport to help provide space for his planes to come and go easily without damaging the nearby areas.
History of the aviation community estate
A report from Robb Report shared that the space was formerly owned by Muriel Vanderbilt before it was bought out by Nautilus exercise equipment, Arthur Jones, along with an additional 142 hectares of surrounding land. He had built the space to park his chartered Boeing 707s. Not only that, but along with the currently present amenities, the land also housed a banquet hall with a capacity of 400 guests, along with an area to provide refuge for African wildlife. At the time, orphaned elephants, crocodiles, rhinos, and a 270-kilo gorilla called Mickey lived on the compound.Currently, 21 lots of the aviation estate have already been sold to aeroplane enthusiasts.
A look at John Travolta’s love for planes
In the 2001 AD interview, Preston herself opened up about how great the house was for them and talked about Travolta’s love for aeroplanes. She shared, “It was always John’s dream to have planes in his front yard—to practically be able to pull up to the house—so that when you wanted to go to dinner, all you’d have to do was step out the door, get on the plane, and whisk off. And we fly in and out a lot. Last year when Johnny was shooting a movie in Tampa, he flew to and from work every day. Each night the kids and I would go out in the golf cart, watch the landing, then bring Johnny to the house while the plane taxied in. It was very exciting.”In another 2008 interview with CBS News, Travolta had shared, “Aviation has always bailed me out of anything in my mind that is blue. I can look through an airline schedule or brochure and cheer up.” He has always loved flying and even started flying at the age of 15, getting his first certification by 22. He also holds multiple type ratings for large aircraft, including the Boeing 707, 737, 747, and the Bombardier Global Express, and possesses one of the highest levels of certification available to a pilot. He is also often in the news for using his private jets to travel to different venues, just like he did earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival.Jet Spy last reported that the actor has a total of four registered planes under his name.
