Yes, you would have to be a very wealthy house-hunter to buy it. But the next best thing is getting a chance to look inside – and thanks to our photo gallery below, you can.
It's a special, bespoke property just a mile from the centre of Southwell, known as The Garden House, lovingly created over the last 20 years by architect Allan Joyce and his wife Anna, a landscape designer.
Located within the plot of the former, walled vegetable garden at Westhorpe Hall, it includes period features dating back to the 1790s and is described by leading estate agents Gascoines, who are marketing it, as “a masterpiece of thoughtful and efficient design”.
The judges in the ‘Daily Telegraph’ competition to find the Best Sustainable Home In The UK clearly agreed because they voted the stunning glass-fronted property the winner thanks to its environmentally conscious design.
Featuring a roof terrace, five bedrooms, a home office, studio, workshop, garden room, a pond and three outbuildings, including a garage, The Garden House is spread over three floors. It is the result of Allan and Anna’s dream to produce a sustainable home that was also fun for their family, with more than 4,000 square feet of living accommodation, and space and tranquillity a given.
Now their children are older, they say they are ready for new adventures and believe it’s the perfect time to hand the keys to a new owner.
Anna said: “We’ve loved living in Westhorpe. We’ve made so many fantastic memories in the house and surrounding gardens. It has been our little oasis.
"We created the house to be a functional and efficient home. We wanted to invite the outdoors in with clever architecture.
"Due to the design within the walled garden, the house has its own microclimate, offering fantastic protection from the weather and complete privacy.”
An energy consultant was employed during the build to ensure running costs would be low, with features, such as passive solar design, complete insulation and underfloor heating, and robust materials, including oak, used throughout.
Allan said: “It’s rare these days to have a home that offers so much space but is also efficient to run. Living sustainably is incredibly important to us, so we installed a rainwater harvesting system and a heat and solar collection to ensure we have the lowest impact on the planet.”
Anna added: “The house has so much potential, so we hope someone comes in and makes fantastic use of it. The house was designed with flexibility in mind, so there’s scope to make it your own.”
Luke Saywell, director at Gascoines, said: “The property is one of a kind. The next owners will fall in love with the unique design, sustainable features and endless potential.”
For more information, including floor plans, visit the Gascoines website or the Zoopla website here.
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1. Meet the creators
Before we take a look inside the £1.5 million home, let's meet its creators, architect Allan Joyce and his landscape designer wife Anna, who are the couple behind The Garden House. They successfully mixed modern-day sustainability with period features that date back to the 1790s when the plot was a beautiful walled garden within the grounds of Westhorpe Hall. Photo: Gascoines
2. Dining/living area
The property is spread over three floors, with the five bedrooms on floor one. Floor two houses the main reception rooms, including this dining and living area, complete with feature fireplace. Photo: Gascoines
3. Ideal for family meals
A second shot of the dining area, which is ideal for family meals or for entertaining guests. Photo: Gascoines
4. Kitchen full of character
The kitchen, which can also be found on floor two, is full of character. Photo: Gascoines