Owners of grand designs style Bond villain’s lair forced to make VERY drastic transformation to £4m underground mansion after it languishes on market for two years

Attractive views and plentiful natural light are high on the list of most home-buyers’ priority list – particularly if they are lucky enough to have £4million to spend.

Nevertheless developers who spared no expense in constructing a fully subterranean Grand Designs-style property were confident that underground life would appeal, and not just to Bond villains and Wombles.

Unfortunately the lavishly-furnished 4,000 sq ft circular three-bed house – which comes complete with a £150,000 supercar lift – spent two years languishing on the market with just three people going to view it in 11 months.

In a radical solution, the owners now want to build an extension – this time above ground – in the hope they can complete a sale.

The house, named Perdu – French for ‘lost’ – in a millionaires’ row in upmarket Bowdon, Greater Manchester, was built underground in order to get around restrictions on putting up a conventional house in a conservation area.

But in a blunt appeal to planners, developers confessed it had ‘proved impossible to sell an underground house’.

Plans to improve the prospects of a sale by extending the house to include living space above ground have met opposition from locals

A marketing report suggests the planned changes would ‘completely change the breadth of appeal and overcome negativities raised by [the house] being fully subterranean’

Despite being located in the depths of the ground, each en-suite double bedroom is well-lit due to the windows being placed at the surface

According to a marketing report, extending Perdu above ground to add extra living space ‘will completely change the breadth of appeal and overcome negativities raised by it being fully subterranean’.

The proposed extension ‘is necessary to improve the prospects of selling the property’, the application states.

However the plan has met with opposition from locals, with one heritage group asking ‘whether the simpler option of just reducing the high asking price has been considered’.

Planning permission for the above-ground extension has now been refused.

An officer’s report branded it ‘over-dominant and incongruous’ and said it would result in ‘unacceptable harm’ to the existing arrangement of historic buildings.

But the developers plan to appeal – and deny they are still looking for someone to buy it, insisting instead that the extension is to ‘further bespoke the property for a buyer’.

Perdu was built beneath the grounds of a Victorian mansion converted into flats after developer Chris Oakes – a childhood fan of Thunderbirds and James Bond – was told that no conventional building would be given permission.

The initial proposal was for a two-storey underground building with a swimming pool on the lower level, accessed by a slide from the main living area.

While few sections of the sprawling property are located above ground, it is not devoid of natural light, with one bedroom boasting a small courtyard

The property’s floorplan shows off additional features, including the sunken spa with a hot tub, and a car lift that takes the driver underground

A compact glass reception entrance offers a suitably stylish route into the property, which is equipped with three en-suite double bedrooms

A car lift that descends into the bowels of the property adds to the futuristic feel of the millionaire’s party pad, which also comes with a DJ booth and sound system  

Architects’ drawings show the proposed above-ground areas, which would lend an almost Pentagon-like aspect to the home, which lies in Bowdon an upmarket suburb of Altrincham

The proposed single-storey living area would continue the circular theme of the subterranean space, but with sections cut out to enable natural light to continue flooding underground

However this was dropped in favour of a single storey arrangement featuring three en-suite double bedrooms, with natural brightness supplied by roof lights and ‘light wells’ – sunken areas overlooked by windows.

The only sections currently above ground are the entrance to the car lift, a glazed porch and a covered seating area.

With plush décor throughout, including curved suede panelling, the millionaire’s party pad theme is completed by a fully-stocked bar, DJ booth and sound system.

Descending into the property is like ‘walking onto a film set’, according to the estate agents.

‘We really pushed the boat out,’ Mr Oakes – who founded upmarket Cheshire property developers Huntsmere – said in 2022, describing Perdu as ‘super secure and really private which appeals to a lot of people’.

Admitting that many people were against the idea of living underground because it would be ‘dark’, he said the reaction on being shown round the house was the ‘polar opposite’.

‘People say they would love to live there,’ he added, with the region’s wealthy and security-conscious football stars seen as obvious candidates.

But after being put on the market for £4million in 2022 – reduced last year to £3million – it struggled to sell. 

The property was put on the market two years ago with an asking price of £4million that was slashed by a quarter last year – to no avail

Bowdon Conservation Group opposed the planned extension, saying it would impact neighbours’ privacy and damage the setting of the conservation area

Earlier this year the ‘never before lived in’ property was put up to rent at an eye-watering £15,000-a-month.

Just three potential buyers viewed Perdu in the 11 months to June, according to a marketing document in support of the planning permission, with no offers made.

A comparable above-ground property nearby had 13 viewings, with seven people putting in offers, it says.

The proposed single-storey living area would continue the circular theme of the subterranean space, but with sections cut out to enable natural light to continue flooding underground.

The document concludes: ‘It has proved impossible to sell an underground house, and presently it is vacant and making no viable contribution to the borough’s housing supply.

‘Above ground elements are essential to address this issue.’

Bowdon Conservation Group opposed the planned extension, saying it would impact neighbours’ privacy and damage the setting of the conservation area.

Rejecting the application earlier this month, case officer Tom Parker, of Trafford council, wrote that it would result in ‘an over-dominant and incongruous form of development that would harm the spaciousness, visual appearance and character of the area and would result in unacceptable harm to the setting’.

Mr Oakes declined to discuss the plan yesterday except to say that he would be appealing.

‘We’re no longer looking for a buyer,’ he said.

‘The application is to further bespoke the property for a buyer.

‘And an appeal was always going to be necessary.’