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Why is it so bloody big?
Half a million over budget 😱
Seems to fulfill their needs and they can afford it , so good for them.
Jeez, I wanted this to turn out well.
Glad they didn't go overboard on a million bedrooms that would never be used. Nice of Kevin to acknowledge some GD clichés part way through. Not sure why the decorative concrete beams on the roof facing had to be solid concrete though? They still looked a bit wonky even after being fixed.
Garden soil just needed ripping.
Did they say what part of the UK? I'm guessing SE England by the accents.
Seems to fulfill their needs and they can afford it , so good for them.
Yeah, this.
Dunstable I think they said - Bedfordshire
I noticed they never overcame the corner misalignment on the conc beams.
I saw last week when they showed snippets of a weld breaking, I though it was going to be the brackets for the concrete . Looked very pigeon shitty , like it was an afterthought and they had been stick welded afterwards.
The architect should have been shot for those 1.7t (apiece) fascia's.
I quite liked the outcome even though John was too busy trying to promote his son. And £500k over budget.... holy crap!
Pleasing to see how his wife had progressed during the two years.
Always a bit of a dull episode when money is no object. Of course it was going to turn out brilliantly - every time there was an issue they could just throw another 50K at it!
Yeah, really pleased that they got what they wanted and that they could absorb the price. They needed it to allow them both to live together again. The wife had shown a fair bit of progress as well which was nice to see.
Not my taste though, i would personally have liked to take their previous house though, that was gorgeous!
Interesting episode - I quite liked the finished building though the Isle of Wight house really showed how that style of thing could be done. I didn't notice did the architect show their face at all? As has been said the 1.7T facias were ludicrous but some blame should have fallen to the structural engineer as there was a lot that went wrong there.
The old house was indeed lovely and must have sold for a decent amount. I imagine £3-4m? in that area?
Did they say what part of the UK?
Kensworth, just outside Dunstable. Nice village on the Downs near Whipsnade.
That’s the place. I think they said he was a businessman, so just an equestrian property - of which there are quite a few around there. On google maps it looks like the new place is east south east of the old house. Values around there are somewhat influenced by the Luton Airport flight paths. Nice design and outcome, one no doubt aided by deep pockets.
Sold in 2021 for around 3.5M according to [url= https://themovemarket.com/tools/historicpropertysaledata/lu62pq ]online sources[/url] - land plus inflated build came to around 2.6M so he was nowhere near in trouble.
Looking forward to the next one, it’s just up the road from me on the Dulwich Estate and a remodel of an already very nice Austin Vernon & partners townhouse. was going to pop out for a look in a bit but might wait until after watching the program.
I’m also wondering if there is going to be any back and forth with the Estate as while they encourage good architecture they do have their rules regarding reworking existing property.
just startting to catch up with these now and watched 2nd episode.
Episode 2 (modular build) has been, by quite some distance, the best of this series. Its up there with my top 5 of all time. Nice couple. Sensible budget, realistic build, interesting process, it obviously meant so much to them. There were aspects of the house I didn’t like but the world would be a boring place if we all liked the same things.
agreed. it was lovely to see a genuine couple who have been through hardship for many years, building something (relatively) cheap that meant so much to them.
mrs ex-p welled up too when they did. lovely couple and a top episode.
Glad to see her walking and speaking again. best outcome of any GD I've seen tbh.
the Isle of Wight house
That was utterly lovely. Proper lottery win territory.
I thought their version was pretty good though, and a wonderful end. Bit of a sales promo for his son though.
Is it just me or does this series all miss out a fair chunk of the build? Seems to go from Windows in to done in one fell swoop.
Flipping wowser
Why can’t people be honest with themselves and admit to architects that they watch telly. Oh, and yes I like large screens too.
The number of houses where it is clearly an afterthought plonked in an awkward corner is amazing.
Another (old) couple rattling around in a huge house.
I think it's been said previously, but very few of these GD builds have any curtains, or anything to afford privacy. Aside from the privacy/better sleep without morning daylight coming in, I'd have thought having large expanses of glass would be made slightly more economical by some curtains.
But it affects the aesthetic.
I for one don't want every man and his dog looking in every time I step out of a pant.
Practicality is trumped by the aesthetic, at least for media scrutiny.
It's a bit like bikes.
I have a picture of my bike when new, singlespeed.
Clean shiny Ti, with lovely new tyres. Looks great.
Then I started using it, and it looks ugly. Mudguards, bottle cage, handlebar accoutrements, dirt, bags.
That's what these daft glass houses remind me of.
Also, these 'perfectionists ' every other week really wind me up. That turkey on the last episode seemed quite ready to demolish a huge concrete wall because a little corner of honeycomb would be impossible to live with. 🙄
Wasteful knobber.
I thought it was a lovely house mind you.
@creakingdoor the wedge of cheese flint House nr Waddesdon that won house of the year a few years back has curtains - obstructing the view from the bridleway that goes past the back of the house, the curtains are all faded from sunlight through the expanse of glass and look really terrible.
The best thing about this weeks episode was how well she recovered over the years they followed the project
Relatively drama free this week. Nice owner, architects, builders and though it didn’t look great from the street, I really liked the interior. Not being on a visitors centre scale was refreshing too, something to be said for being creative with limited space.
Relatively drama free this week.
Except for the scrotes who broke in and mashed the windows. Though TBF it looked like they'd used the same cheese spec alloy that some bike manufacturers use. I'd expect a few K of the overspend came from a beefed up security system after that - looked like there were cameras everywhere.
They also seemed to gloss over the impact on her old house - at the start it looked like there was at least 1 window in the end elevation and what looked like a gas flue sticking out of the wall, so assume they had to do some work on that place too.
Thought the result was great, got a bit confused at the start of the program as i thought she was extending an already sizable Austin Vernon designed 4 bed home.
Apart from the bling kitchen it looked like the money went in the right places and it is worth more than what she put into it.
here is the house she sold which from memory was up for 1.2 million.
If you are looking for it on google maps it’s rock hill just off Sydenham hill but satellite view is not up to date but it’s just visible from street view.
https://www.themodernhouse.com/past-sales/rock-hill/
Dulwich Estates were as usual a stickler for details and the brick slips had to match (they won’t let us have modern aluminium windows though 🙁
i liked it but hope she doesn't plan on getting re-married because it was very pokey even for one.
nowhere to put stuff - no cupboards anywhere, no wardrobes in the bedrooms... makes me squirm.
Except for the scrotes who broke in and mashed the windows. Though TBF it looked like they’d used the same cheese spec alloy that some bike manufacturers use. I’d expect a few K of the overspend came from a beefed up security system after that – looked like there were cameras everywher
I think you'll find that kev and his team staged that to spice up the broadcast a bit. They couldn't pull the marital strife or unexpected pregnancy lever
nowhere to put stuff – no cupboards anywhere, no wardrobes in the bedrooms… makes me squirm.
My wife and I looked at a new build years ago, and I asked the woman showing us around where we were supposed to store stuff. She suggested that my bikes and surfboard could go in the tiny shed in the tiny garden. I think these days the shed would be big enough that there'd be no garden left, and we'd be limited to 3 pairs of underwear each. 😀
I get a little angsty about where people keep stuff in these programs. I 'm obviously not the only person in the world who has hobbies and interests and pastimes, and so often these houses suggest that the owners do nothing at all. Maybe that's why they can afford millions for a visitor centre. 😀
My wife and I looked at a new build years ago, and I asked the woman showing us around where we were supposed to store stuff. She suggested that my bikes and surfboard could go in the tiny shed in the tiny garden. I think these days the shed would be big enough that there’d be no garden left, and we’d be limited to 3 pairs of underwear each. 😀
I get a little angsty about where people keep stuff in these programs. I ‘m obviously not the only person in the world who has hobbies and interests and pastimes, and so often these houses suggest that the owners do nothing at all. Maybe that’s why they can afford millions for a visitor centre.
It's the same with the house refurb shows, the before shows piles of crap everywhere with stuff stacked on top of stuff. The experts then come in and the house is redesigned with walls moved but very little storage added. The finished product then shows it clutter free and it looks 3 times bigger. I get the feeling 2 skips and a fresh coat of paint would solve 90% of those problems while saving a fortune.
nowhere to put stuff – no cupboards anywhere, no wardrobes in the bedrooms… makes me squirm.
On the pre build animated plan bit there was a walk in wardrobe between her bedroom and the en suite, another small room that looked like storage just outside the bedroom and effectively a built in shed accessed from the driveway (we rewound to check what the other door from the drive was)
What @thepurist said. I found a photo of it earlier on Twitter but can’t find it now.
I ‘m obviously not the only person in the world who has hobbies and interests and pastimes, and so often these houses suggest that the owners do nothing at all.
Tbf her hobby seemed to be cooking / entertaining and the kitchen had cupboards 🙂
Tbf her hobby seemed to be cooking / entertaining and the kitchen had cupboards 🙂
I know. Not everyone needs bikes, and telescopes and guitars and surfboards and paddleboards and kayaks and R/C cars and books, lots of, and drumsets and skateboards.. 😀 (I don't own all of these. Lack of space.)
It's also true that they won't show the 'boring' parts of the house on GD.
I thought it was great inside. Lovely bits of light everywhere, including the fab skylight in the bathroom. Really great 'views' from the rooms including the outside terrace, which all faced away from the neighbours so no annoying them with the entertaining.
Outside bricks were gopping, but not the home owner's choice. Good to see the architect coming up with solutions (e.g. clay blocks, scouring t'internet for cheaper windows) instead of just spending other people's money. If I had the money & plot I'd employ that team no worries.
The original soil survey was a waste of time - did they just poke a stick in it?
Not sure if I'd be wanting a three storey house if I was facing uncertain health issues, but a certainly a good way to get what she wanted & free up some cash (if old house did go for £1.2m she's quids in 👍)
Tbf her hobby seemed to be cooking / entertaining
And by having 2 kitchens she got exactly what she wanted. One of the best builds I've seen.
She really likes trees eh, sounded like a novelty to be able to see some.
She really likes trees eh, sounded like a novelty to be able to see some.
the house is situated in one of the most wooded parts of london, it’s partly why i moved here as while i love nature i’m not ready for the tedium of the countryside.
If we ever manage to exchange/complete move down the road (also on the Dulwich estate/same architect as her old house) i’ll have a 6th floor treetops view of the woodland back towards her house from a bit lower down the hill, should make it easier to watch the peregrines sitting on the transmitter tower taking out the pigeons.
will defiantly go have a look if it’s ever part of 'open house’.
next epsisode looks like a n ego slow burn car-crash angst fest.
i bet the building will secondary to the human drama....
Yeah next week is the infamous record producer home wrecking moneypit faux lighthouse build. Where he built a million pound house on the adjoining land just to raise funds to pour into his main build
Essential viewing
Next weeks house is currently on right move for ten million
I really liked the design on the inside, if not her taste in decoration, but hey I dont live there. As others have said she clearly doesn’t have much stuff beyond some clothes. The kitchens were a bit underwhelming for someone who is a chef. I bet they cost a fortune but I struggled to see where the money went on them beyond all the reinforcing so they could ‘float’ when full of stuff
Once again even when she asked the architect to design and build they couldn’t do it for her budget. I do sometimes wonder why it takes 7 years to do the training.
The budget though was in the context of materials going up on an almost daily basis, and assuming that the soil survey was correct, I think re-doing the piling was £20k alone.