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Walhalla Is an Elegant Floating House Disguised as a James Bond Submarine

In Norse mythology, those who die in combat go to Valhalla, a hall in Asgard where Odin rules. Even Immortan Joe’s War Boys in Mad Max believed they would go to Valhalla if they died a glorious death, so they always made sure it mattered in whatever way they could. This Walhalla has nothing to do with death, even though it looks the part.
Walhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interior 19 photos
Photo: Tingdene Marinas & Boat Sales
Walhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interiorWalhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interior
As we continue our Sea Month coverage here on autoevolution and look at some of the most outstanding vessels ever built, Walhalla deserves its own spot. It’s a custom Reeves narrowboat that was redesigned into a proper home, with all the creature comforts and coziness of one. It’s all business on the outside and homeliness on the inside.

Walhalla was designed to be a home on the water for UK couple Alan and Jo Mason and was completed in 2012. What with the focus on upcycling and mobile, alternative housing in the past couple of years, the Masons were definitely ahead of the curve: they had lived on the water for more than a decade, and they decided they needed up go one size up, while still being able to remain mobile. The plan was to take their home sailing through the canals of Europe, they would say in a 2017 interview.

There’s a saying about how man makes plans, and God laughs, and it applies here: the Masons were never able to see their European travel plans come through, as Alan was diagnosed with cancer, and they decided to sell the Walhalla. When that happened, they had lived on it for a while, just enough to know that it was the perfect home on water.

Walhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interior
Photo: Tingdene Marinas & Boat Sales
The moment it was first listed, asking £229,000 ($280,000 at the current exchange rate), was the moment when this unique narrowboat became a viral star. Today, it still sits on the Thames and impresses with its aggressive styling, which has been compared to the moment when a German-made or some James Bond villain’s submarine is about to make you meet your maker.

Indeed, there is a lot to be said about Walhalla's exterior, with its dark steel hull and fully enclosed deck. The barge is actually a Reeves Brothers build, with a total length of 68.57 feet (20.9 meters) and a custom refit by Kate Boats. It's powered by an Iveco 6-cylinder 150 hp engine with an all-hydraulic drive to an Axiom propeller. Two 400-liter (88-gallon) fuel tanks are available. The cockpit is at the stern, where you can also find a small portion of open deck that can double as a terrace when moored – just perfect for some spy cosplaying.

As visually striking as the Walhalla is on the outside, the contrast with the interior is truly spectacular. The Masons described it as a “floating cottage” they simply dubbed the Cottage of the Water, but it’s a proper home, furnished elegantly and not without a certain sense of humor. Inside, there’s a cozy dining area slash living room slash office slash library, a full galley, a wood-burning stove, his and hers heads (toilets, as one calls them on terra firma), and a master bedroom with plenty of storage space.

The ceilings are all white, but the parquet is black hardwood, and it makes for a powerful contrast and continuation of the menacing exterior. The parquet is Karndean Black with a hard-wearing quality finish and, perhaps more importantly, under-floor heating. Finishes are all-natural in a bid to make the home sustainable and durable; light oak is used throughout.

Walhalla is a custom narrowboat that looks menacing but come with an incredibly cozy interior
Photo: Tingdene Marinas & Boat Sales
Despite Walhalla’s size, it was not difficult to operate, the Masons said in their one interview with the British media. Thrusters and hydraulics made it a comfortable drive, so they’d come to regard it as a step up from a camper, which is what most people tend to consider as the age of retirement looms.

“Lots of people who retire buy a camper van but we thought this was better,” Mrs. Mason said at the time. “We have far more space than a campervan, better joinery and no traffic. It has thrusters and hydraulics so it's easy to drive and maneuver despite its size. It's like a floating cottage really.”

It really is like a floating cottage: comfortable and welcoming, and with everything you could possibly want from a home, plus plenty of personality. But it comes wrapped in a most striking package, which makes the Walhalla a very solid instance of upcyling and a good example that mobile living can mean a lot of things, not just towables. As long as there’s a body of water around, of course.

Here’s the Walhalla in motion because it’s the kind of project that’s best admired on video.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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