[Closed] Have we done this week's Grand Designs yet? (Spoiler content)

Yeah it was all a massive let down - you need to see the finished product. I guess they just realised that he actually may never finish it so they might as well cut their losses!

Aye, but lets be honest, you could reduce the house size by 20%, finish the damn thing and loose very little in the way of 'wow' factor.
How come the 'earthy/sustainable/low footprint' people needed to build a cathedral anyhow? Seems against the grain.
And that big flat back wall was crying out to be straw bale....

Reduce the size by a further 10% and fix his wife's teeth?

Reduce the size by a further 10% and fix his wife's teeth?

He certainly didnt waste much of the family budget on trips to the hairdressers....but I liked them, and the house they were trying to build was lovely. Although I too, didn't think that massive window sat well with the frugal, eco-friendly ethos of the rest of the place...

Yes, i like the ' low budget blood sweat and tears' ones better too. I liked what he was doing but i didnt like the overall build. For me it didnt seem here nor there. He seemed happy enough though, and i expect it will never be finished he will always alter and tinker about with it.

I can't be doing with all these loaded hippies building eco houses. Low budget, small scale ones are best. The fella who built the house in the forest with his mates helping was good. As was the couple who built the one on the really thin strip of land in London with the slidey roof light.

Fantastic house and I really wanted them to succeed.

To me the views were the wow factor, I would have been happy to live in a tent on that plot 🙂

Kevin McLoud tweeted that it was one of his favourites and he'd love to do a follow up show on it.

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By the time it's finished all their children will have left home and there will be just two of them living in the worlds biggest 5 bedroom house!
I really liked it though, would like to see it finished too.

What a fantastic view they enjoyed from that superb Cathedral style window. 8)

The bloke had such a different way of doing things, I rather liked the way the house was evolving. And what an impressive head of hair too. 🙂

I did feel a bit sorry for the kids though, not convinced it would be an idyllic childhood living far away from other kids/trying to be self-sufficient etc.

I can't be doing with all these loaded hippies building eco houses

I think they were far from loaded. In fact I think they were pretty poor. The whole build cost them around £80k and they saved up the money themselves.

Kevin McLoud tweeted that it was one of his favourites and he'd love to do a follow up show on it.

So do I. One of my favourite GDs ever that one, I really like the couple. I'd love to see it finished.

I get sick of all the white modern boxes with walkways over the living area and £60k kitchens

The woodsman's cottage was the best ever though, and the follow up showing the extension was great too. He was a man truly at peace with himself and his surroundings.

Re: Teeth
Is wasn't the teeth so much as the GUMS!!!

my two favortes were the guy in the woods and the climbing couple in edinburgh, oh and the old guy that they did two shows on and he still wasn't done, the guy who had that crazy roof.

will watch this weeks tonight

The fella who built the house in the forest with his mates helping was good.

That was my favourite, and surely much more eco than sticking a solar panel on a mansion.

To be honest, I think it's the people you have to like first. It doesn't matter if it's a lovely house if it's a twunt building it!

e.g. the older couple that built the Huff (SP?) House in Surrey/Berks, that's my second favourite, mainly becasue of the stunning furniture and other possessions they put into it as well

the older couple that built the Huff (SP?) House in Surrey/Berks,

http://www.huf-haus.com/en/home.html

There are a couple of those houses just off tracks in our neck of the woods PP.

That house will never be completed as the guy was more interested in building stone walls than actually building the house. I bet when they class it as finished the outside will still be a building site and it will have taken so long that he will then have to start fixing and rebuilding it. Basically they will never live in a completed house. I know a few people that have built there owns homes or done major DIY where they insist on doing it all. The one lessons I have learnt that it takes them so long that once they have finished they then need to start again. It's just a constant cycle and they never actually enjoy a finished home . I goes if you enjoy it and its your hobby then fine but the other half and the kids never seem to be completed pleased with the situation.

Granted these guys didn't have much money to spend but I do sometimes wonder how much time and money people spend / waste on getting so called free materials. Might be better and even cheaper to get materials delivered and you spend the time actually building.

Dont know why but the guy in the forest one didnt do it for me.
I think it was just a bit too low budget greener than green.

Im all for saving the planet but in this day and age our house is our pension. It was worthless when finished as was never allowed to sell it.

Leaving it to rot just seems mad and is probably not very green as that could be a home generations to come.

My Fav was the converted water tower one, That would do me a treat.

At first I just dismissed them as hippy types with more money than sense but the the more I watched the more I liked them.. Gums were bad though..

Dont know why but the guy in the forest one didnt do it for me.
I think it was just a bit too low budget greener than green.

Im all for saving the planet but in this day and age our house is our pension. It was worthless when finished as was never allowed to sell it.

Different lifestyle to you though.

Seemed a nice enough couple seeking to live a nice life but not sure why they had to/wanted to build such a massive house. As others have said by the time he's finished they'll be empty nesters living in a huge house with an awesome view. How much is an 8 acre small holding with that kind of view btw?

Amazed at how tolerant his wife and kids were. Given his lack of urgency etc, that house was a hobby for him and, despite his good intentions etc it was his indulgence. Indulgent in a different and less vulgar way to the usual suspect architect couples building their career w**kpiece for £1.4m, but still indulgent.

Nice house but he looked like an absolute nightmare to work with.