A £7.2 million (or US$14.2 million) eco-home situated in the midst of the Cotswold nature reserve has set a new standard in contemporary country living.

Retailing at £3,000 a square foot, the highest price of any country home to date, the Orchid House is modeled after a bee orchid and is the work of London-based designer Sarah Featherstone.

Nestled in a 550-acre privately owned nature reserve near Cirencester, the Orchid House sits at the edge of a lake, and when completed, will feature a glass-sided badger set in the garden.

Its eco-friendly tag stems from an underground heat pump and geothermal heating which it is hoped, will produce more energy that it consumes.

The new project, which is one of the most complicated yet, is expected to take three years to complete.

via Daily Mail