THE art power couple behind Bruton’s landmark Wirth & Hauser gallery and venue have applied for permission to build a pool at their Somerset home.

An application by Chapman Lily Planning Ltd, on behalf of art dealers and philanthropists Iwan and Manuela Wirth, has been submitted to Somerset Council for an outdoor pool at Horseley Farm, in Brewham.

The scheme would see a pool and associated plant room built in a walled garden area to the rear of a parlour building on the site.

“The existing area is currently lawned garden with an approximately 1m-high stone wall surrounding it,” the application said. “The site is in a rural location and surrounded by large, open fields.”

It said there was a low risk of flooding and surface water on the spot and the development would fit in with the current buildings.

Picture: Jinny Blom/Somerset Council

“The scheme has been carefully conceived to provide an outdoor swimming pool and plant room while maintaining a good relationship with the other buildings across the site,” it went on.

A terrace surrounding the pool would also be created, as part of the plans.

Hauser & Wirth – founded in Zurich in 1992 by the couple alongside Ursula Hauser – opened the Somerset attraction in 2018.

They are long-time supporters of the Bruton Museum, as well as The Holburne Museum in Bath.

For more details, and to comment on the application, log on to somerset.gov.uk and search for reference 24/01493/HOU.

Picture: Jinny Blom/Somerset Council