Young couple who won £45m on the lottery to swap £90,000 former council house for £5m 'Teletubbies' mansion complete with garage hidden behind a waterfall

Matt and Cassey Topham apply to build new home in Nottinghamshire

House will have eight bedrooms, a swimming pool and a private cinema

Couple were inspired by combination of Iron Man and V&A Museum



A sound-proofed cinema, a botanical garden, a grotto-style swimming pool … not to mention a garage for ten cars screened by a waterfall.

It’s a mansion fit for a James Bond villain. Or, in this case, a 24-year-old painter and decorator and his wife who scooped £45million on the lottery.

Newlyweds Matt and Cassey Topham have lodged plans for their dream house, a £5million eco-home called Serenity.

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Bolthole: Matt and Cassey Topham hope to build this home in the Nottinghamshire countryside

The futuristic property has four wings or ‘hubs’, which are covered in solar panels and arranged around a sunken courtyard.

Designed to shield the couple from prying eyes, it will also boast a snooker room, gym, jacuzzi, acoustically-sealed pods and even staff quarters.

It’s certainly a very long way from their old home, a £89,950 ex-council house in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire.

Just after their Euromillions windfall, in February 2012, Mr Topham told a press conference: ‘I have often painted these huge houses and wondered what it would be like to live in one. Now I can find out.’

Serenity’s architects describe the property as a ‘21st century update of the traditional country house’.

Artist's impression: The house will have eight bedrooms plus a swimming pool and private cinema

Estate: The property is set in a country park which the couple bought for £1.2million

Change of scenery: Matt and Cassey Topham were living in this semi-detached house in Stapleford when they won their fortune

The plans involve demolishing a 1930s mansion overlooking a country park, which the couple bought for £1.2million last year.

Its most remarkable feature is its underground garage, built to accommodate the couple’s growing collection of cars. After their windfall they swapped their Peugeot 107 city car for a Jaguar XKR-S and Range Rover Evoque, worth a combined £150,000.



Mr Topham is also said to have also splashed out on a Porsche and Aston Martin DB9.

The cars will be glimpsed through a waterfall, created from rainwater which will collect in a pool at the centre of the house.

This will cascade into a second pool below, producing a ‘water curtain’. In a statement released through their architects yesterday, Mr Topham and his 23-year-old wife, a former Iceland supermarket supervisor, said: ‘Must-haves [for the new house] included five bedrooms, a dramatic sweeping staircase, a large garage and a grotto-style pool.

Jackpot: Mr and Mrs Topham won £45million on the EuroMillions lottery last February

Generous: The pair have paid off relatives' mortgages and given millions away to close friends

‘We also spent a lot of time debating with the architect how the rooms would be used and the split between open plan and entertaining spaces versus cosy, snug rooms. We were very clear we didn’t want to live in a glass box. At the very top of our wish list was a strong desire to keep the design contemporary yet familiar, and flexible enough to accommodate a future family.’

They told London-based architects Baca the new home had to be ‘luxurious, environmentally-friendly and playful.’

The four hubs will be divided into ‘a formal entertaining hub, a family hub, games hub and an annex’, with a half-storey of steps between each.

Richard Coutts, of Baca, said: ‘Visitors arrive via a grand hall where a majestic staircase sweeps up to a cinema room and study, contained in two acoustically sealed pods hovering above a drawing room.’

The Nottinghamshire project is likely to be one of the most ambitious new homes built in the UK. Baca submitted an application yesterday, but planners are unlikely to consider it until the summer.

Last night Mr Topham’s father, Brian, said the couple were enjoying an extended touring holiday in America. He said they had had a ‘lot of input’ into the design of their planned home, adding: ‘I’m not going to say where the house will be built but it is quite local.

‘Matt has no plans to move – all his friends are around here.’



