A subterranean home set in a former water reservoir is on the market for just under a £1 million.

The unusual conversion in the English town of Sidmouth is the brainchild of civil engineer Robert Hardy and his wife, Ann.

They acquired the former reservoir, which had been disused for five years, back in 2008 from a regional water company and set about creating a home within the site, resemblant of a drum.

For Hardy, it was the challenges posed by the unorthodox site that drew him to the project.

‘I have spent years putting housing developments into fields, and it is utterly boring,’ he told the Daily Mail at the time. ‘This project had so many interesting aspects to it. How do you deal with the height problems? What about the light? How do you go about uncovering the drum?’

Called Woolbrook Reservoir, the home is two storeys deep and features a turfed roof to match the greenery of the hilly grounds around it.

The five-bedroom property is available for £925,000 via Humberts.