Pffftttt, I grew up here.
Nearest post box is a mile away, nearest streetlamp is two.
Had to share it with the paying proletariat though.
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Tonight's looks, erm, a bit special.
Reminds me of the people who bought the house in Beetlejuice.
Or the big commercial sheds that farmers put next to their farmhouse
Who gives out planning permission? Its not sympathetic, balanced or matches the old lodge.
Wtf check the ham out!!
i quite like it , and the people too .
Turned out quite nice.
Funky build but they just said '**** that' to the original building which was a shame as it had some lovely detail that could have been echoed in the new build.
Built for the kids. Ace.
Not a visitor centre like they normally are.
How many times was the word "fun" used?
I think that's the first one where I've actually laughed out loud! There's some delightful touches to that house, it's been built with love and care, with the children being fully involved about the whole house, not just their bedrooms, which is a first!
Lots of quirky touches, but why the hell not, if they can be included during the build.
The build came in right on time, and pretty much on budget too, but then they're both professionals employing professionals to oversee the project?
Loved the brickwork, too, the quilted effect was lovely, as was the fireplace.
I don't mind the interior it's the exterior (and who looks at the people?!?), it's not sympathetic to its surroundings at all. Just a giant black shed. Or as Kevin said 'it's like a giant black tent draped over a large frame.
I liked it a lot.
No mention was made of the link to the old house though.
I wonder what their plans [b]really[/b] are for that? Granny Annex? Holiday Let? Accidently back a digger into it and gain a front garden?
I too liked it. The outside was pretty good, the brickwork and the dark zinc worked well, IMO. Inside was, well, fun.
Not so sure about doing it so close to the old house, but it would have been a shame to knock it down.
I suspect they were being honest - old house will become a "guest wing" which they could potentially let out.
I really like the outside - the textured brickwork and zinc looked fantastic.tic and should age gracefully. Unashamadely modern.
Some lovely details on the interior and some fails. The fireplace was elegant but made tacky by the Latin text. Clashing styles in an open plan space looked like an interiors show with different room sets. They are over budget - they've spent it all and are some way off finishing. A full refurb on an old 3 bed house(?) to a high standard has got be 50k minimum plus a chunk for that glazed link.
Blown budget
baby
self builder
it was all there tonight .
One of my most favourite ever tonight, they were so nice, and the build was stunning.
Simply stunning craftsmanship, and very likeable humble family. Best build I've seen for a while right up there with guy who made his cave house, the engineer in Oban who converted an old ice store in the rock and who can forget the hobbit house on the woods
Fantastic advert for their business too. 8)
Well yes, apart from the fact the old cottage basically had no real identified use. Playroom? Business? Flat?
Only saw last 5 minutes but there was a nice big room for them. The two kids sharing and oh yes she's preggers, so are there enough rooms?
Long ago I gave up watching Grand Designs, so far had it moved from what originally interested me.
By chance I decided to watch it tonight, though without knowing what was due to be shown.
That has to be up there with one of the best I have seen - their dedication, ability, vision and sense of design being perfectly brought together in their house. Excellent.
Ah but no issues with bespoke German glazing, so doesn't get house in grand designs bingo. But truly stunning house
Wow. One of the best I've seen.
I guess that as the kids grow up they can move into the old building.
Interesting build but way, way too much wood - basically the same idea regurgitated again and again. Not that I could've built anything like it but not enough interest in the building.
Meh
The steamed bent wood looked OK, but you wouldn't want it everywhere.
The kitchen looked like a sauna and you'd soon get bored of opening cupboard doors to get at the kitchen features.
And it is hard to feel sorry for a couple who's business has taken off so much that they don't have the time to finish hand building their own house - luckily having enough money to get builders in though.
Jealous moi? 🙂
Brilliant. One of my favorites. Lovely couple and a great build.
That was absolutely brilliant. Something genuinely unique. I bet he's going to have a busy order book on the back of that. Good on him. His work was amazing. And they seemed like really nice people.
Nice to see that Kev has got the memo about acres of German imported glass slotted into place to produce another minted couple's ego-castle, that looks like a visitor centre, isn't actually very interesting to watch
Only saw last 5 minutes but there was a nice big room for them. The two kids sharing and oh yes she's preggers, so are there enough rooms?
Yeah, for a mathematician she did a poor job of calculating how many bedrooms they needed.
Yeah, for a mathematician she did a poor job of calculating how many bedrooms they needed.
I am sure they always had plans to extend in the future – I believe they were in a conservation area so they were probably limited on size but now they have the building (and it looks great) the planning guys will be more relaxed about them extending it.
now they have the building (and it looks great) the planning guys will be more relaxed about them extending it.
That's not usually how it works - in fact the opposite. When planning is tricky it normally comes with a clause that removes any permitted development rights and makes future extensions difficult.
I thought it was very well executed and looked lovely. They'll never shut the doors on the kitchen (the doors didn't look very robust either) and you'd have to really learn to love wood if you were living there.
The layout didn't make any sense at all though - why would you design a 2 bedroom house with 3 1/2 living rooms if you'd already got 2 kids? The house was big - 220m2. In a couple of years they'll end up ripping apart the work they did on the cottage to create another couple of bedrooms and a bathroom. Seems a waste.
Also, the reason the upstairs was small was because of the wide balconies they'll almost certainly never use.
I very much doubt it's in a conservation area, got a very good idea of where it is as friends and friends of friends were involved in the build.
Sized to a price without sacrificing aesthetic wants, the rest will sort itself out in time.
Haha, not a great start so far.
So, is Kev going to provide the grandchild, rather than just child?
Wait till all the spiders and other bugs get between the joints of all that black cladding. It won't have those clean sharp looks in a years time.
Rotting leaves on those rooftop windows will look good too.
looks like it was designed using minecraft...
Fugly
Very realistic budget.
Design not too bad but could be better.
If I were to build one it will be completely square like Borg ship.
[quote=yosemitepaul ]Wait till all the spiders and other bugs get between the joints of all that black cladding. It won't have those clean sharp looks in a years time.
Rotting leaves on those rooftop windows will look good too.
It'll just give them moar dappling!!1!
Another good one. Not my particular taste, but it isn't my house.
This series is so much better without the £750,000 budget + 50% over run and "Engineered German Windows". I think what really helps is that the people have all been likable and the budgets realistic.
Next week a former CEO of a city trading house and his trophy bride will spend £2,500,000 on a fur and gold space station on an island in the Thames.
The no windows at the front etc? Could it be that the area has plots of land sold off for development and the front will have something else?
It is probably classed as developer land, ex brownfield due to its previous use?
I wondered that, but then Kevin walked down a path from an adjacent street, so it's probably a cheeky bit of singletrack and they don't want bikers peering in.
I thought it was very well executed and looked lovely. They'll never shut the doors on the kitchen (the doors didn't look very robust either) and you'd have to really learn to love wood if you were living there.
If your entire life revolves around bending wood for decorative purposes, then living with it goes without saying! 😀
I really did love that house, the passion that they both showed for the construction and the hours that they put into building it themselves was palpable.
Stunning build, I loved it.
get the kettle on and settle in for tonight...
400m2 and it overlooks and is size of a row of terraces... 😯
A professional builder? Hmmm, so much less scope for monumental blunders of the entertaining kind
