MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
I thought it was great. All ready to hate on these bright young things, but more power to them.
I wanted to see the half height basement when done, so disappointed about that. Also those stairs looked like an accident waiting to happen.
I liked the cedar cladding; it looked as if he had had it polished. There's a farm near Lancaster that is almost buried under thousands of tons of massive cedar beams that were recovered from demolished Lancashire mills; we went there for two mantlepieces and the bloke just chopped them for us with a chainsaw while standing on a 6' mountain of sawdust and offcuts. I would like to go back for another look around but can't remember where the hell it was.
I am still one behind so just caught up with the bloody awful one in the Peak District - I appreciate they ran out of money but they seemed to have spent a painful amount just to get to where they did before running out. It looked dreary, dull and depressing and had very little intrinsic design value either. Good location though.
10 years!
Not quite my taste in finish and I admire the craftsmanship, but still!
Self indulgent.
So how did it get planning?
How did they survive for 10 years without working?
10yrs, but wow! Phenomenal.
No building regs? How do you make it habitable or do you just not bother?
Only has to pass building regs in force from when it was started.
Found this one quite frustrating. If he'd simplified a few things he could've got his family out of their cramped temporary accommodation about eight years earlier. It still wasn't finished after ten years.
for all the new age hippy bollox it wasn't very "homely". Also the lack of an overall plan and design was pretty evident in front door didn't open fully as bashed into the angled wall behind.
A hippie Hobbit's decade long masturbatory project. Left me feeling sad.
Great craftsmanship, can't knock that. Do wonder over the utterly self indulgent nature of it. And where do they get their money from? All those children at school, brand name clothing, contractors, and his accent was suggestive of breeding. I liked him, and his children were great. It would have been nice to see his furniture designs, as I bet they funded this. Not my cup of tea, yet you have to admire it as the ultimate post-hippie off-grid living.
Double post.....
Haven't seen the programme, but the images look absolutely stunning.
Will have to watch.
I wonder if kayak from this parish saw it.
Contrary to the previous posts about 'hippy bollocks' etc, I thought it was a stunning house and I totally got their outlook and approach to the build and to life in general.
OK it took him years but did you detect a single atom of stress or unhappiness in any member of that family? Even the bit about not really worrying about the kids moving out or the future.
Brilliant.
I'll admit, I was wrong to presume the hippy stuff comment I made before. I do admire the work that has been put into the house.
I like the overall design and layout of the house. I like the materials.
but
the lack of symmetry in that entrance hall roof space would burst my brain! It would grate against the symmetry of the glass itself and I would forever be noticing it.
Good on them though for the work.
I'll explain why I felt it was self indulgent and clarify my feelings.
I said I felt sad by the end. I had for a fair bit felt angry at his selfishness but came to see the life style worked for him and his family and they seemed very content. So my anger changed to just sadness that the house wasn't done to be enjoyed by the family as kids grew up.
Although he clearly felt the kids had benefited 'from the experience of the build' neither the kids, nor the wife, seemed very engaged, not until they moved in and were doing some decorating, even then it was not significant engagement. The house was the guy's design and build playtime.
For me the finished house was far too hippie hobbit design. I loved bits, the view, the window, the slate floor, the wood floor. I admired the craftsmanship. I just felt totally overpowered by the live edge/natural split grain wibbly wobbly wood everywhere, and for me it really grated against bits that were geometric ...the window looked like a warped parabola and the 'geodesic vaulted ceiling' was grossly deformed. I'd have adored beyond measure both of those done in planed timber and symmetrically, but this is just a matter of personal taste.
You're just jealous...
🙂
Superb craftsman - some really nice touches and finishing detail. I even dreamed about him and his house last night (nothing weird).
That'll teach me to drink on a week night.
In regards to the comments about the children missing out; they did say that they fully expected their children to move back home and take over the main house when they were ready to settle down and start their own families. They seem to believe that the journey is the important part, not the end point, an alternative view to most in modern life.
I thought it was possibly quite telling that the programme didn't include any of the children actually saying anything in Kevin's final visit to the finished house - just one shot of one of them working in her bedroom.
It was only by the end of the programme that I realised the house was incidental.
Very interesting some of the negative comments against the dad and the family.
My dad spent the first 23 years of my life renovating the farmhouse I grew up in, pretty much from the ground up.
We didn't have working central heating till I was 16, had periods without floors or a kitchen, spent time where me or my siblings were sharing rooms, we had animals and grew things to eat.
There's a lot of crossover between that family and mine (except my parents still worked in decent FE jobs the whole time).
We had a great time growing up like that, it never felt like we were in the middle of my dad's 'narsasistic' project.
Not for me that one... i think i lasted 4 mins at the start and watched the last few minutes too... Blleeeeeuurrrghhh
Absolutely stunning, the craftsmanship and love that went into the house was sublime and proper mend & make do environmentalism too - think the rope pulley light switch was going a bit far though..
I thought it was stunning, the comments on here about things not being straight bemuse me no end! I don’t think I’ve seen a happier family on GD either. I bet their kids will grow up with some pretty amazing skills too.
If the dome above the main hall had been all even it would have looked terrible!
That was the first I'd watched in ages and it was ace. GD got very formulaic where poncy architect type/over entitled partner splurge multi £m on horrible indulgent box/civic centre lookalike then do post build smugary over tea with our Kev.
It was nice to see people enjoying themselves without all the silly jeopardy and nonsense that GD has become.
Hope the next is as good or we'll have to go dormant again.
You forgot ...before putting it on the market.GD got very formulaic where poncy architect type/over entitled partner splurge multi £m on horrible indulgent box/civic centre lookalike then do post build smugary over tea with our Kev.
That was the last in this series I think.Hope the next is as good or we'll have to go dormant again.
Not for me, but admire the endeavour/skills.
Magnificent. Just totally loved the build and the whole families attitude to it.
PSA: New series starts tonight at 9pm
Optimistic budget ✅
optimistic time frame ✅
potential to go wrong ✅
should be good
have dead bodies ever stymied a build before?
Lass is up the duff before Kevin finished his intro. Quick work.
Have the windows arrived from Germany yet?
#visitorcentre
Once again highlighting how shit our planning laws really are..
You can restore it but not add to it.. 🙄
The guy should be getting a grant to help to restore it, not getting dry bummed to the tune of £500+ a day for the pleasure of the archaeologist telling him what’s down there.
Lass is up the duff before Kevin finished his intro. Quick work.
His powers are increased by absence from our screens! He’s a walking fertility god!
Have the windows arrived from Germany yet?
Don't trot out that repetitive trope....
But have they?
Christ knows what’s going to happen to Grand Designs Windows post Brexit?
I can see those kids having a great time playing on that lovely staircase...
Building regs different for some buildings?
Kev is wearing Eddy the Eagles specs!
2 young kids, and a rooftop terrace?
What could possibly go wrong.. 😳
Certainly seemed to test their relationship. I’m also wondering what the actual cost was, the £300k was vague
place looked nice and not as small as I'd feared. Could see it much more as a £1500/night air b&b s****y rental than a family home though.
did seem the relationship was strained.
Yep, not sure how a 2 bed boutique tower is going to suit a family of 4 with little kids... but she'll be taking the children and moving in with her mum and he'll be back in Madrid.
I did think that the digger driver was going to plough Mr £500-a-day-archaeologist into his own trench at one point too.
However, the finished structure has rather nice, and I look forward to seeing how stupidly expensive it will be to rent as a holiday let.
place looked nice and not as small as I’d feared.
Remarkably Tardis-like, I thought, and a really beautiful restoration. I could be very happy living there, it has a quirky charm about it.
I felt sorry for them over the outrageous fees for the archaeologist they were forced to pay for. If they spent £300k on the build and £100k on the land then £400k for a 2 bed how ever fabulous strikes me as a bit steep especially as they are likely to out grow it quite quickly as the kids grow
I felt sorry for them over the outrageous fees for the archaeologist they were forced to pay for.
They knew they were buying land where Saxon burials had been found. I thought the archaeologists were fairly lenient.
@Chrismac - look up the prices for 2 bed houses in Dinton and you might change your mind, would easily make their money back if they decide/hit reality that it's not much fun with two growing kids.
We did some work for Mr I spent £10m doing up Dinton Hall - he was err very exacting to put it mildly.
Language warning ⚠️
is that a first?
That 250 is gonna eat into the budget....
Imagine how incredible that living space would have been if it was all glass.
id have sold the rental house to keep that.
Meh.
Over weathly, overstretched, oversized and unfinished box.
The wood panels looked stuck on, compared to the flush floating glass.
Kitchen cupboards were nice.
@klunk - yes it was. I remember really disliking the owners and wondering why they made such an enormous house that only looked nice from one angle outside.
The IoW property cost £3.3m ( https://onthewight.com/grand-designs-isle-of-wight-house-photos-stunning/) selling for £3.95m. It'll be interesting to see the spreadsheet bottom line after the sale
Imagine how incredible that living space would have been if it was all glass.
id have sold the rental house to keep that.
Or at least kept the glass that wasn't behind the steel columns!
So far I've been disappointed with this series - not nearly enough focus on triple-glazed glass panels from Germany, for example. But last night's was a doozy. Seeing the furniture (and full-grown people) against the walls showed that the size was ridiculous, and you wonder how well they might have been able to finish it if they'd done a normal sized house...
too big and not keen on the exterior wood cladding in such amounts....if only it had more glass, but failing that I think some clean white rendered bits maybe. I was quite taken by the plywood cladding inside, but again perhaps overdone. What window and lovely view though!
I liked the guy - he had a good bond with the contractors and was genuinely gutted by Kens passing.
I think it wouldn't be that difficult to add more glass in a year or so when funds allowed (and finish the interior ceiling)
It was like an airport, a cool Scandinavian one, but still an airport. I'd have gone a bit smaller with more windows and Mrs Spider was concerned about their heating bills.
Each to their own eh?
They were all nice people though, both clients and contractors.
I quite liked it, I do wonder how people can start such projects with seemingly little idea of real costs/time when there's potentially so much at stake. He got lucky a few times for sure.
I really liked the plywood cladding although it probably looks better on TV than being right up close to it. The external cladding was a bit meh but not too bad, hopefully done in a way that it can be replaced with glass at some point in the future.
I think it wouldn’t be that difficult to add more glass in a year or so when funds allowed (and finish the interior ceiling)
I thought that too, but might be a way off, given they were £150k over the ‘absolutely no more than that’ £400k budget.
Maybe start playing the euromillions...
he definitely got lucky quite a few times, plastering without a roof, pouring the floor without a roof and before the windows were in despite the glazer telling him not to, was a bit shady.
I wonder about the plan and the costing for these projects, surely anyone wanting to self build should be gorging on old episodes to learn tricks. He was right to listen to the builders but I'm not sure if he had anyone peer review his concept for the ridiculous ceiling height.
the interior and exterior panelling will improve as it ages.
the interior and exterior panelling will improve as it ages.
It'll go see thru?
Lots of calls for more glass in these projects. How can you manage internal heat without resorting to extremely expensive and clever glass? And on a more day to day point, what about privacy when you’ve got huge glass panels?
(I spend far too much time in hotels and have come to dislike the ones with big glass windows and air-con. That sets off my sinusitis and bakes me to death in the summertime. And I’ve also seen a woman walk half naked out of her shower in a Grand Designs type house next to a very busy clifftop walk in Gower. No curtains!)
Which half? Asking for a friend.
Which cliff? Asking for Harry_the_Spider.
West Cliff. Third house along. Can’t miss it - lots of glass and a crowd outside.
Who could moan about this week? Ok some of the art I wouldn't choose but Healthier kids is a win for me
Where do they store bikes? There is always a lack of utility space
We were saying that, the coupe came across as likeable, doing the best for thier kids, making sensible decisions.
Only thing I thought of to whinge about is the £700k they spent on the plot they could relocate to somewhere with better air quality outside of London, and the money saved could go towards setting up their businesses at the new location, but that’s nit picking I guess.
Awaits someone to say that they didn’t go over budget because of brexit, as they claimed...
yes done through necessity and for commendable reasons. build seemed smoth, just threw money at it and got a very high spec finish. Just a compromised location....it is a back garden and the neighbouring houses are very visible.
I liked it, but can’t help think that as soon as the kids play outside/ go to school they’re kinda back to square one with all the allergy issues.
But as for the house?
All that, and in SW London for about £1.3mil? Not bad at all.. it even had a garden FFS😳
Yeh I liked the house in the end. I liked the way that they didn't project manage themselves so Kevin still had a dig saying they would be too busy to supervise the build. Normally when people self manage he criticises them for being amateur project managers!
Yeh they could have saved a lot of London but I suspect they make very good money on their businesses in London and they just wouldn't be as profitable outside of the capital so then I suspect they wouldn't have been able to afford it.
I don't understand how the allergic reactions were reduced so drastically. If they are home educated then I get it but you can't control the environment outside of the house.
Nice build, nice people and very cute kids. Hope it all works out for them.
Liked the house and the family.
Except for cutting the tree down. Didn't they think it may be a bit close and therefore not put the house in the middle of the plot?
I dont understand how the house helps with the allergens. Do they not open the doors or windows? Is the dog the only bug free dog in the world? What happens when they go outside? And the biggest probelm its in London, probably the most polluted space in the country.
I guess it had an impact as kids generally sleep for 10 hours a day, and being able to do so in an environment with filtered air let them recover between school, etc. and led to fewer asthma attacks. The air pollution in London is massive and the particulates are a known cause of asthma in children.
I think the filtration system was the main benefit to them - they could probably have retrofitted that to their existing house and got most of the benefits.
I thought they had a wood burning stove, which is one of the worst things you can have in your house for particulate pollution - like bringing a diesel inside! However, I couldn't see a flue, so I'm guessing it was an electric fakey one.
Anyway, nice couple, competent build and a nice house at the end.
We need a car crash one next week with an obnoxious pratt to redress the balance! 🙂
Yeah liked that one. I thought the house was great, location less so. Really hope it continues to work for them
I thought they had a wood burning stove, which is one of the worst things you can have in your house for particulate pollution
A lot of them are fitted with chimneys.