Grand Designs – full commitment again…

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.

A little appetiser before next week’s main course: https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/lifestyle/property/a36343040/grand-designs-lighthouse-for-sale-croyde-north-devon/

I do sometimes wonder why it takes 7 years to do the training.

1 year to do fancy drawings
1 year to do CAD
1 year to do building regs n stuff
3 years to learn how to write obscure bolleaux to either sell the scheme, blame the engineer, blame the builder or blame the client for changing their mind
1 year to buy black polo necks, thick rimmed specs and a Saab

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.

We’ve had some insane inflation in construction, a lot of it coming from COVID causing supply chain issues. Plus a smattering of Brexit headaches. Coming in 12% over really isn’t bad in those circumstances, especially with foundation issues which always cost a fortune

Think this was one of my favourite ever grand designs. It just looked like somewhere that would be lovely to live in.

Managing a build budget like that to within 12% was good going and all credit to the architect for such a good design given the limitations of the site. My own self-build was 12% over budget in 12 months during COVID and we were pretty well insulated from any material price increases, it was mainly just ‘stuff’, not an extra £10k in groundworks or an extra £30k+ on a kitchen – we did managed to spend £2k on cupboards for putting all our stuff in though.

Fair play to the guy for finishing the Devon lighthouse. Gutted for him that he has to sell it without ever living it.

10 mil for the lot? When’s the euromillions?

Finishing the main build maybe? No kitchen, bathrooms or lighting anywhere judging by the coiled cables hanging out of every room and not able to live in it as he has to sell both as they are. Bloody idiot from the start lol!

The finished product did look pretty nice but I think they’ll be lucky to sell for £10m in the market now.
…..and who wants to buy two houses at once? 🤔

My concern is that the pilings turn out to be not as future proof as they think and when that soft sandstone disappears it’ll start moving.

Frankly the whole thing was a stupid idea in the first place.
Was it worth losing your wife and kids over?….. Never.

Oh….. And not only do you get to put your own kitchen in but the bathrooms haven’t been done either!

Linky

and who wants to buy two houses at once?

Someone who wants to buy the main house & have the eye as a guest house. Someone for whom 10mil is pocket change.

Was it worth losing your wife and kids over?….. Never.

At the end the (grown up) kids implied that all was not well between husband and wife even without the project, and felt that all of them were better apart than they were together so maybe the house was just a catalyst for that.

I’m not sure I’d choose to live there though – looked more like a statement building on a business park than a home. My guess is that the site will end up as two high end holiday homes – surprised they hadn’t already gone down that route to get some income while they try to sell it because my guess is it’s not going to be a quick sale.

Possibly the grandest of grand designs. His folly, that was evident throughout and she been persuaded that his dream was her dream.

Good evidence for the life goes on post divorce thread.

Someone who wants to buy the main house & have the eye as a guest house. Someone for whom 10mil is pocket change.

If you can afford that then there’s many, many better places to spend your money. In addition, people with that sort of money do not pay the asking price – I doubt it will get close to £10m.
The question then is whether he comes out of this with anything?

The biggest Grand Designs of them all and it leaves me utterly cold.

It’s the perfect example of money and ambition corrupting people, thier family and friends, the environment they installed the folly in and more.

But then I’ve always preferred the “Ben, woodsman who built a cottage by his own hands and enough for his needs” approach.

I think I’m more a Modest Designs guy.

1 year to buy black polo necks, thick rimmed specs and a Saab

You’ve met my brother then?

(Except the Saab was short lived and replaced with a Citroen DS….)

I wonder how long it will be until your 3 acres becomes 2 acres, becomes 1 acre…….