Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be jealous of couples on Grand Designs...

155 replies

MrsKittyFane · 16/04/2012 20:07

Who build their homes, borrow zillions, take a risk.
DH and I struggle to change a lightbulb.
(watching repeats on More4!!)

OP posts:
SeaShellsUnderCanvas · 17/04/2012 07:46

The disco dance floor lady had an article in the Daily Mail about how wonderful it was as her daughter wouldn't want to go clubbing in London anymore now she is a teenager me thinks they were trying to sell up too and needed to justify the £1m!

VivaLeBeaver · 17/04/2012 08:14

The only couple i disliked were lndoners. He owned an art shop in london. They built without proper permission and then slagged off the neighbors when they complained.

ElephantsAreMadeOfElements · 17/04/2012 08:27

The Huf Haus didn't really fit into the GD pattern, in that some German men turned up on site with the bits, spent 48 hours (or something like that) putting it up, and that was that. No stress, they were in a caravan for about a fortnight tops, and no one wound up pregnant.

AgentProvocateur · 17/04/2012 08:34

I thought I'd seen them all over the years, but I do t think I've seen the violin factory one.

There's one for sale near me - do you remember the potato merchant with the pretty wife and two daughters ( and the inevitable baby at the end) who built a house on a loch? They got into canoes from their veranda. I think it must be a bit too far out of the city now that the girls are teenagers.

Psammead · 17/04/2012 09:05

We built our own house. Isn't grand though.

We did move in when I was 8.5 months pregnant, however. Would have made for gripping TV. Not.

Labradorlover · 17/04/2012 09:27

No. The lovely Argyll, near the loch, house with large west facing window was wrecked by the winds we had in January. And met the man who built the huge Killearn lochside house, when I went to view a small house he was selling.....what a grumpy, rude man.

Methe · 17/04/2012 09:37

I love that we al have the house in the woods as our favourite Grin

There was one years ago that was a castle wih a kind of glass huse on the roof? I loved that.. and the one build of tyres and bottles.

TheTwatsInTheViolinFactory were indeed twats. It was them that got in toa spat about bricks with the ballet people? They had a big runway i imagined pushing them off iirc.

Methe · 17/04/2012 09:39

Oh and that one with the dancefloor was Shock. Even my DH was Shock at it and he's a club promoter.

AgentProvocateur · 17/04/2012 09:46

Labradorliver, it's the Kilearn loch one that's for sale. they didn't stay there very long.

funkybuddah · 17/04/2012 10:21

I don't know if this is true or an urban legend but on GD had the obligatory walls of glass and was uninsureable , allegedly in high winds the glass blew in!

But like I say It may be a ul

Frontpaw · 17/04/2012 10:26

There are a few new office blocks all glassy - the shard, gherkin, boris' office...

TeWihara · 17/04/2012 11:02

Loads of my family have built there own houses (it's much cheaper in NZ) my favourite was the stone and wood farm house, wrap around porch, big windows double storey living space etc (waaay too remote they live in a city now) and the 4 storey townhouse on the world's steepest plot.

I liked the eco house in france too, he got students over to help him build it!

Labradorlover · 17/04/2012 12:35

Agent, hadn't realised the Killearn one was still for sale.....that's been years....hey ho......

NowThenWreck · 17/04/2012 13:02

The reason the Huf Haus one was so great was that this couple were really old, and really arty.
When the house was finished, they customised it with colour, and filled it with the fabulous pieces of 20th century design they had lovingly collected over the years, so the end result was so interesting and well put together.
Also, they were super cute when she said that there was a chair in her bathroom so he could chat to her while she was in the bath!

Usually the end result of these builds looks like a bland 90's office building, all open stairs, beige paint, and stainless steel kitchens. yuk.

Agincourt · 17/04/2012 13:03

I don't know where they get their money from tbh
I have gone terribly wrong somewhere along the line

FamiliesShareGerms · 17/04/2012 13:22

Oh, I love the Huf Haus one too - just lovely people and a gorgeous house. DH and I want to be them when we grow up :)

OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere · 17/04/2012 13:24

But why do they ALL have to say 'because we really feel the kitchen is the heart of the home' ?

Is it written into the terms and conditions or something?

EdlessAllenPoe · 17/04/2012 13:35

'the kitchen is where we get our faces in the trough together' perhaps wouldn't sound as nice?

Pachelbel · 17/04/2012 13:51

Oh I can't believe that noone has mentioned the GD in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

House built by Lucie after her husband died from cancer after the planning process. He's in the filming at the very beginning but died shortly after and Lucie decided to complete their vision - all be it a slightly toned down version.

Heart wrenching episode and the family came across as being so lovely.

OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere · 17/04/2012 14:03

'the kitchen is where I hide round the L-shaped bit from the kids' sounds alright to me Grin

NowThenWreck · 17/04/2012 14:14

I never get why people want those aircraft hanger sized open plan kitchen/living room/"entertaining" areas.
How do you ignore the washing up if you can see it from the sofa?

AgentProvocateur · 17/04/2012 14:16

Pachelbel, I loved that one. She was a teacher and the architect was her husband's friend? I cried buckets.

bronze · 17/04/2012 14:21

I remember lucie but I have to admit I don't remember the house at all. It was one of the earlier ones wasn't it. Maybe it's time to watch them all again. Wil get very jealous though as would love my own house to decorate let alone design

BaronessBomburst · 17/04/2012 14:24

My utility room is available for a free overhaul if anyone's interested....? Grin

AgentProvocateur · 17/04/2012 14:27

Labrador, price has dropped considerably - from £1.9m to £1.25m. Still out of my league, but lovely house.