As two of Britain's finest stately homes they have played host to royalty and presidents and their sumptuous facades have provided backdrops to film and television costume dramas.

But now Waddesdon Manor and Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire are to take centre stage in a saga of their own as their powerful occupants combine to challenge the government over its plans for HS2, the high speed train line between London and Birmingham.

In a move that threatens to become a major test of the government's claims that it will take extensive measures to minimise the impact of line, the National Trust, whichs owns Hartwell, and the Waddesdon estate, home to the financier Lord Rothschild, is to submit detailed plans for the construction of a 7km "green corridor" running past the properties and the town of Aylesbury.

The corridor, which would be hidden on either side by raised banks of ground, sound dampeners and woodland, would start at Stoke Mandeville, run past the grade 1 listed Hartwell House and up to Waddesdon. It is believed the corridor would cost hundreds of millions of pounds to build, although the true figure will not be revealed until the trust has commissioned its own independent report from a structural engineer.

Both Hartwell House, part of the trust's historic hotels group, and Waddesdon Manor are considered historically important and their grounds are some of the finest in the country.

Hartwell's most famous resident was Louis XVIII, who lived there with his court when he was exiled from France. Waddesdon, which is also owned by the National Trust but is maintained by another trust belonging to the Rothschild family, is built in the style of a chateau and has hosted visiting heads of state including Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. It featured in Downton Abbey and in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

An independent survey commissioned by the trust suggests the noise impact on both homes and, in particular their renowned gardens, would be extremely significant. While the trust remains opposed to HS2 it says the corridor would be the best way of mitigating the impact of the line.

Claire Graves, National Trust senior project and stakeholder manager, said the trust felt it was crucial to lobby the government to spend more on ameliorating HS2's impact in the Aylesbury area. It is believed around 1,000 homes within 500m of the track would be protected by the trust's plans.

"Our worry is that the government's plans won't go as far as is necessary," Graves said. "We've gone the extra mile and developed a scheme that we believe works for local people and which we hope the government will adopt."

The trust's plans are being presented to local people this weekend following consultation with local councils. The scheme will then be presented to the bill committee overseeing the HS2 route. A draft environmental statement will be published in the spring.

While the government is under no obligation to incorporate the submission into its final plan, a decision to ignore it – and other suggestions – could rebound on the Tories when voters in the home counties go to the polls. The £33bn line will run through a number of Tory seats including that of Cheryl Gillan, David Liddington, the Europe minister, and the Speaker, John Bercow. Large numbers of formerly staunch Conservatives who live near the line have pledged to vote against the government over its decision to press ahead with the line.

The combination of the trust and the Rothschilds makes for a formidable lobbying organisation. The trust has four million members and has proved an adept campaign group. In the 1930s it launched a powerful campaign to protect the countryside that led to major changes in the law. More recently it was lobbying from the trust that saw the government water down proposals for building on green space.

The trust has pledged to intensify its campaign by pushing for a 7km tunnel at a cost of an estimated £2bn if the government declines to back its plans for a corridor. A refusal to incorporate the proposal into the final plan could threaten relations between the Rothschild family and the Tories.

Rothschild is one of the country's best connected businessmen. His wife, Lady Serena, donated almost £200,000 to help fund chancellor George Osborne's Westminster office and a team of researchers when he was in opposition.

The Rothschilds' youngest son, Nathaniel, was also a friend of Osborne before the two men fell out over disputed allegations surrounding the Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska.

Graves said the government's plans for HS2 would set the tone for how it intended to proceed on other big infrastructure projects including airports, the new national electricity grid and road schemes.

"There is an opportunity to build really good infrastructure, but it means we need to start these projects with the question of what the land will be used for and look like at the end," Graves said.

She said major infrastructure projects were not necessarily a threat to the countryside. The Hindhead Tunnel in Surrey, which opened in 2011 and runs underneath the Devil's Punch Bowl, a site of special scientific interest, was recently cited by Patrick McLoughlin, the transport secretary, as an example of how infrastructure could be built without ruining the environment.