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I love the parents. WTF would we want to move here?
Did they not say that some of the planning decision was based on intergenerational occupation. And it explains why his parents had a room, but her mum a full wing with kitchen, lounge etc
Sad news of his dad and mum.
looks like a visitor centre.
We thought sub-visitor centre, more outward bounds centre. It just needs some feral teenagers from Wythenshawe smoking weed outside
I guarantee that both granny’s will have started a proxy war with each other within a week that will make everyone’s else’s life hell
Commercial unit to let....
Inside's alright though
wife said its more like a respite care home...
Oh boy...that looks horrible. Why is it clad with salmon pink corrugated steel. Yuck.
Pretty sad that his dad died before it was finished. The elderly mother is somewhat rude too.
Ugly house - looks like a commercial building - rather than a home. They seem a very self-satisfied couple.
Commercial unit to let….
Inside’s alright though
^ that.
(And that was hilarious when Kevin realised that the sheep are pets, not products...)
Outside was a bit challenging and not too welcoming. Too much wriggly tin cladding. Some nice timber or stone cladding would have softened the overall look.
I reckon that within a couple of years the exterior won’t look too different to the barn/cowshed it replaced
Looks like those accountancy offices you see on industrial units.
The elderly mother is somewhat rude too.
Blunt northerner, having no truck with softy southerner! I thought she was great, zero ***** given about Kevin. 🤣
And nice to see the daughter being glad to be home with her family and no longer in That London - a proper multi-generation home.
I quite liked the sheet-metal finish too - pretty much weather resistant, no upkeep or treatments required in the future, and almost zero running costs. I’d rather have that than the bland identikit little boxes that are being built literally in their thousands on green-field sites very close to me; very soon Corsham and Lacock with just be extensions of Chippenham! 😖
Makes me spit feathers when the "architectural merit" card is played, basically if you've got a shit tonne of money you can, in the words of our King, "build a carbuncle in the countryside" whereas genuine small holders wouldn't be able to get planning to build a real (as in not ****ing huge) eco house to support their low impact lifestyle grrrrr. Also recon the multi generational living card must have been played at planning stage - moving the older generation to the countryside where they have no connections and will need lifts or taxis (in that location ha ha) to get anywhere is not insightful and is usually better done in built up areas with only relatively minor adaptions done to a normal house.
Yup, wasn’t hugely convinced that it had architectural merit, as the roof was the only unusual feature and despite claims that it matched the contours, looked more like the fuselage of a F-117 nighthawk. Perhaps when the vertical element and the walkway is added to the first floor, it won’t look like “ accountancy offices you see on industrial units” as so aptly noted above. Can’t help but think they’ll soon be down to 3 rattling around in 5k sq ft with two full size dining tables.
I reckon that within a couple of years the exterior won’t look too different to the barn/cowshed it replaced
Yeah, tuned in halfway through, looked at the exterior, first word that came to mind was 'barn'.
All this show does is highlight the important bits of life you are missing while you are ****ing around with a ridiculous self-indulgent self-build. Your kids are in a shit rental, you never see them, you're not around to support your parents through bereavement and illness while you shovel cash at a minimalist cowshed in a puddle.
Didn't make it to the end - did the poor mum live long enough to be moved in?
Looked like an office as someone said up there, then i decided it felt more like a hospice. Truly wonder why people like this sort of design. Also, oddly specific build for particular needs. Guess that's ok if you accept it has a use for a short term period then you are left with something hardly anyone would want to buy nor work on when something goes wrong.
Imagine the roofing bills when something needs done.
Another very indulgent, oversized and over budget house.
It wasn't even interesting ...
Blunt northerner, having no truck with softy southerner! I thought she was great, zero ***** given about Kevin. 🤣
She had a Brummie accent - lived in Stratford and I am from Birmingham and still not quite that rude.
I was confused by the artisan bespoke roof vs the bargain basement crappy corrugated cladding. Was the roof a part of the planning condition to make it a suitably meritorious bit of architecture? They also seemed surprised by the size of the thing and could've probably lost 25% off the volume, saved a packet of cash and still been more than adequate for their needs.
Intergenerational wing will be an Airbnb rental soon enough.
I also wonder if the intergenerational aspect was code for accessing parents capital to help fund the build.
End result was pretty awful, the roof shape had promise, but the sheer size of it and the baby-poo brown cladding killed it for me.
The larger the build the more the owners yak on trying to justify the purpose as being something more than just a fancy ego fulfilling house - I get the multi-generational need, but not sure how that justifies a 9m high ceiling with a 20ft chandelier.
As someone else has already said, getting round permission based on something as subjective as Section 79/Architectural merit is a slap in the face for everyone else. If you can afford the most expensive architect and the most expensive build then you can beat the system…...so totally apt for the current political climate then.
How on earth that got planning permission on the grounds of exceptional architectural merit is a mystery to me. It was huge and, as others have said, looked more like a small business park than a home.
Clearly daughter is eithe unemployed / starting a new job / or has very understanding employers to WFH and not going to the office very often as it would be a right PITA from there to get to the train station every time. I did laugh out loud when the parents said they saw no merit in moving in, especially given the way it was designed, and no doubt sold to the planners.
a 9m high ceiling
I think this is close to the height of my whole 2-storey house, and we don't have low ceilings. How do people keep ceilings clear of cobwebs when they are this high? How do they heat their houses? Though, I'll bet my kids could still get food up there!
I would love to know how a relatively young couple found £1.5m without a mortgage to buy the plot and then fund the build.
In my experience (friend was a Est Agent in Richmond for years), … daddy
Couple on scooter looking for £800k flat in Richmond. Nothing on books. We have this for £1.2 though. Next weekend yes sure we can up our budget to that now. Daddy bunged us more…
Idle Jon, you think they will clean their own house? We are the only people I know who cleans our own house. Fact
I think this is close to the height of my whole 2-storey house, and we don’t have low ceilings. How do people keep ceilings clear of cobwebs when they are this high? How do they heat their houses? Though, I’ll bet my kids could still get food up there!
or change the lightbulbs in their bespoke blown-glass chandelier....
Oh that house "cost almost nothing to heat" according to Kevin.... Struggling to believe a 500sq m space will heat itself through winter just by solar gain. I thought passivehaus partly relied on smaller volumes where the heat from occupants, cooking, fridge etc could warm the space?
Another monster steel frame, OSB and foam million pound ego trip.
A smaller version from straw bales with a glulam not steel frame would have been more appropriate for architectural and eco merit.
How do people keep ceilings clear of cobwebs when they are this high?
Same way companies/offices with double plus height reception areas do, specialist High Level cleaning company, normally with a scissor lift.
My parents had an extension built where the lamp units could only be changed using a scaffolding tower and cast shadows at the desks. The extension was a study on the side of the house. It was at basement level on a house on the side of a hill and the stairs from the first floor were so badly designed they took up a third of the space.
Architect was a friends daughter. Utterly useless
As someone else has already said, getting round permission based on something as subjective as Section 79/Architectural merit is a slap in the face for everyone else. If you can afford the most expensive architect and the most expensive build then you can beat the system
Yep that sucks and tbh makes me think of Swinhay House 🙂
I know this isn't adding anything to the debate but im so sick of cavernous, inappropriately large houses. Its actually making me angry when I see it unveiled on GD! Still watch it though.
My schadenfreude will have to be satisfied by rewatching the disastrous faux lighthouse build
As someone else has already said, getting round permission based on something as subjective as Section 79/Architectural merit is a slap in the face for everyone else. If you can afford the most expensive architect and the most expensive build then you can beat the system
This, good connections in the council, the right planning consultant who knows how to influence the key people. It’s all about who you know and what you are prepared to pay
My schadenfreude will have to be satisfied by rewatching the disastrous faux lighthouse build
I think there might be catch-up episode of this one coming up at the end of this series, there was an interview with the dude in radio times a couple of weeks ago.
@fingerbang knowing that massive house owners get the same % off their gas & electric bills as us meer mortals no doubt won't help.
Yes I know that some are highly energy efficient but I work in some really high end stuff & the size of their boilers to heat the pool, gym, cinema, dog wash room, heated garage, jet lag room (yes it is a thing) is way beyond normal domestic stuff.
(And that was hilarious when Kevin realised that the sheep are pets, not products…)
Isn't there some sort of rule where if you want to buy a farm then you actually have to prove you are going to farm it ?
After watching Clarksons Farm, sheep farming isn't something you do to make a living....
Isn’t there some sort of rule where if you want to buy a farm then you actually have to prove you are going to farm it ?
To be eligible for subsidies and access to preferential rates/insurance/vat relief etc you need to maintain a minimal level of stock and show husbandship of the land, a mate has a 1500 acre hillside farm in Galloway on very poor but typical topography (now sold) and I helped him out for the previous 15odd years, a helluva amount of work with his 200 head of cattle and 600 sheep, the paperwork has to perfect and handed in on time otherwise it’s a world of pain.
knowing that massive house owners get the same % off their gas & electric bills as us meer mortals no doubt won’t help.
Not the same percentage, the same flat discount isn’t it? So assuming they’re using a load more they’ll actually get a smaller percentage - which still probably won’t make you feel any better 😬
Blunt northerner, having no truck with softy southerner!
She was rude AF in my opinion. Kevin asked how she was during the reveal, to which she replied with no other greeting 'Id be better with another cup of tea inside me', as if it's his job, as a guest, to be constantly pouring tea down her gullet.
And nice to see the daughter being glad to be home with her family and no longer in That London –
Er, yeah. More like 'Dad's built a million pound house, I might give that a go for a while till I get fed up with granny'.
Cladding was gopping. Funny watching the wife try to justify the second 'formal' dining area, which they clearly didn't know what to do with.
Kevin asked how she was during the reveal, to which she replied with no other greeting ‘Id be better with another cup of tea inside me’, as if it’s his job, as a guest, to be constantly pouring tea down her gullet.
I got the feeling she had been collected the night before, asked to smile and wave for the camera, and was being delivered home later. I genuinely think she was not comfortable with being on camera...
Struggling to get the point of erecting a commercial/municipal building in the middle of the country and living in it. Could have built something half the size in oak, stone and glass, employing local craftsmen that would have been stunning, but no, they built a call centre instead.
Not my thing - ugly on the outside and little to commend on the inside - half of the view from the main bedroom was of the roof of the wing. I wonder if the cladding might have been a requirement of the planners to try and replace the barns which were taken down.
I'm not sure if it's a call centre or the local offices for some government quango.
The special architectural merit thing is clearly a pisstake. With all the chat about the spectacular roof being in perfect feng shui with the surrounding landscape, I kept waiting for the perfect drone angle where it all made sense. That never happened.
Still, at least they have a nice 9M high section of roof to hang the bauble collection from.
Just looking at this week's design, seems like he's created a w_nk pit/office/man cave that's inaccessible to his wife. Ingenious
Crack
Bang
John can't wait to christen his w_nk tower