Plans to turn a set of Richmond offices back into a home have been refused by council planners.

An application to turn Onslow House at The Green into a 'single family dwelling' were put forward to Richmond Council in November.

The proposal said the project would involved "non-intrusive re-ordering" of the of the property by "removing modern partitions and lobbies" to restore the original plan form of the house to a "notable degree at ground floor level".

Plans state the five-storey grade II listed site has been on the market as an office for two years with no takers, adding that restoring it to a home makes the most commercial sense.

If approved, the plans would have seen the building finished with 12 bedrooms, wine cellar, utility room, laundry, snug and a basement.

"The site helps to improve the economy by making use the best use of this property that was originally constructed as a residential property," the application said.

The floor plan for the proposed development (image via planning application)

"Furthermore, the site has been marketed for two years without interest in its on-going use as office space and therefore reusing as a residential property is making use of this resource and future occupiers are likely to contribute to the local economy through future spend in the area."

According to the application the building was built in 1710 by Lord Onslow and was used as a residential property until in 1954 Calvert Smith and Sutcliffe solicitors turned it into an office.

But refusing the application, council planners said: "The development, by reason of loss of office floor space, would result in harm to the borough's stock of office floorspace, to the detriment of the local needs of the borough."

It added: "In the absence of sufficient details of the proposed works, it has not been satisfactorily demonstrated the proposal will preserve or enhance the significance of the Grade II listed building."

An advert on the Michael Rogers website has marketed the building as an office with the price only available on application.

See the full application here.