The Yet-to-be-Completed Orchid House designed by Sarah Featherstone sold for £7.2million

This is a classic example of an eco-friendly home making waves, and that too giant rippling ones! Brainchild of “on-her-way-to-the-top” designer Sarah Featherstone, the Orchid House sits on 550 acres of land in the privately owned nature reserve Cotswold Water Park, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. Although this house will only be completed sometime in 2011, it has already aroused a lot of interest and is one of the most sought after properties in the community of Lower Mill Estate. And, it has even managed to find itself a buyer, and by the looks of it a mighty rich one.

<!--more-->Considering that the Orchid House is really a country house, no matter how fancy the architecture, its selling price of £7.2 million (roughly $15 million) has to be a record breaker. The form and the name of the house have been inspired by the Bee Orchid that grows locally on the site. The house itself has been constructed from ribs of sustainable laminated veneer lumber (LVL) which has got timber shingles. In order to help the house blend in with the natural setting, a camouflage pattern has been burnt into the timber.
The living space of the Orchid House is extremely flexible. The kitchen is located in the center of the house from which fan out the dining and living areas. What people will find most fascinating is that the main living area floats over water. Owing to the flexibility in its living spaces, the owner will have the freedom to adapt his house to suit any occasion. Whether it is an intimate family holiday or a large reception, the Orchid House promises to live up to any challenge.



The buyer of the house is as yet anonymous and has requested for things to be kept that way. One will have to wait until 2011 to find out who the mystery man or woman is. There are rumors that it is someone well known connected to the entertainment industry. This idea could have been sparked off by the fact that among the people who showed an interest in buying this property and looked at the plans were Brad Pitt, Kylie Minogue, and Bourne Identity producer Paul Sandberg.

The USP of the Orchid House lies in the underground heat pump which aims to generate more energy than the house will consume by capitalizing on principles of geothermal heating. This feature will go a long way in helping the buyer digest the exorbitant £3,000 per square foot cost of the property that he’s had to shell out. He may just be able to recover that by saving on energy bills!