FOLLOWING his appearance on TV's Grand Designs, Stourbridge educated Angelo Mastropietro says he plans to rent out the abandoned cave in Wyre Forest which he has transformed into a luxury retreat.
Angelo, who grew up in Hagley and went to King Edward VI College in Stourbridge, spent eight months almost single-handedly turning the 800-year-old cave into “Britain’s first luxury cave house retreat of the modern world”, complete with walk-in shower, under floor heating, a fully-fitted kitchen and even wi-fi.
The 38-year-old businessman visited the site as a young boy and was motivated to transform the dwelling when it came on the market in 2010.
Angelo bought the 2.5 acre site for £62,000 and submitted a planning application in 2014 to turn the cave into a one-bedroom retreat.
Featured on the popular Channel 4 programme, Grand Designs, Mr Mastropietro set about carving, cutting and drilling into the Triassic sandstone hillside at Low Habberley – including excavating 70 tonnes of stone by hand – to turn his plans into reality.
Mr Mastropietro, who ran a recruitment company in Australia before being diagnosed with MS, needed a project to concentrate on while he took a career break.
He said: “I was living in Australia when I was diagnosed with MS. I carried on working but the stress was becoming detrimental to my health.
“It forced me to rethink my plans for the future and I was looking for a project in order to have a career break. On an extended trip back I found the rock house up for sale and the auction was taking place on my birthday.
“After visiting I fell in love with the place and wanted to turn it into a romantic retreat and have it featured on Grand Designs.
“My family comes from Italy where there is a tradition of cave dwellings and ironically our surname Mastropietro translates into ‘Master of the stone’. I was not particularly daunted by the idea of carving a home out of rock – I felt emotionally attached to the project from the start.
“The whole process, without a shadow of a doubt, has been incredibly grilling – physically and mentally challenging.
“I am able-bodied and it was more the risks I was taking that were in the back of my mind - I have already been paralysed once in my life.
“It was great fun to film with Grand Designs. I fully enjoyed those days when they were filming – they are an inspiring bunch of people.
“It motivated me and I feel quite privileged to have that opportunity. It is Britain’s first luxury cave house retreat of the modern world.”
Angelo now plans to rent out the Rockhouse Retreat as a holiday home and it is available to book online at therockhouseretreat.co.uk.
He added: “The work was a labour of love and I was determined to transform this forgotten cave into something special. It is estimated the cave is more than 250 million years old and I think we can safely say it will outlive many of the new homes being built today.
“I plan to rent it out as a romantic retreat for the time being, and maybe later in life I may use it as a home.
“It would be nice to retire here and kick-back and relax in the surroundings.”
Angelo's appearance on Grand Designs can still be seen on Channel 4's On Demand service at www.channel4.com
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