Subterranean house plan for village

A futuristic, part-buried three-bedroom home could be built in a Herefordshire village. But the design has been toned down from a previous bid which proved unpopular with locals.

Mr S Smith of Cusop, near Hay-on-Wye on the Welsh border, has applied to build the home on land between the grade II-listed 18th-century Dulas House to the north, and Upper Dulas, an unlisted house of similar age to the south.

It would back onto the Dulas brook, which forms the England-Wales border, beyond which lies the Offa’s Dyke Path and Brecon Beacons National Park.

Intended to minimally visible from the houses, road and wider landscape, the house would be buried into the bank on the edge of a former quarry, with slot lighting in its green roof. A surrounding orchard would be reinstated.

The highly insulated house would be triple-glazed and heated “using the latest heat pump technology”, while the “simple design” would suit those with a physical disability, a statement with the application says.

The plan “is very sensitive to the character and appearance of the place and its neighbours – probably the most sensitive development of new housing within this area for many years”, it adds.

A previous application by the same applicant for a part-submerged house on the site was withdrawn a year ago, after receiving more than 30 objections including from Cusop Parish Council.

“We feel the new proposal responds to previous concerns, particularly in terms of scale, location and historical sensitivity,” the latest bid says.

Comments on the application, numbered 230142, can be made until February 23.