Heart of Oak

A striking new oak-framed passive house in an area of outstanding natural beauty in the English countryside has just opened its doors to the public, and already there has been a flood of guests seeking to experience life in a passive house.

Andrew and Linda Burnett have been on quite a journey. When they began looking for a retirement home near Malvern, in Worcestershire, back in 2013, their aim was simply to purchase a house in the area that they could convert into a bed and breakfast. But they ended up opting to self-build the first oak-framed passive house B&B in the UK. An eight-acre field with 700 pear trees, 75 plum trees and seven beehives was not part of the original plan either.

It seemed so fantastic, we thought the house was not really ours.

When their search began for a new home, the couple were living in a village in Kent. To make it easier, they relocated to a rented bungalow near the spa town of Malvern, in Worcestershire, where Linda grew up. The couple visited a few barn conversions and liked the idea of a house with exposed