What do you think of Sarah Beeny's mega-mansion?

[StrychnineInTheSandwiches]

A new programme has started on Channel 4 following Sarah Beeny and her husband (and their four kids) as they build their ginormous new house in Somerset.

The house looks like a Lego version of a Georgian country pile. It's naff looking I'm being honest. (yes I can say that. no it isn't a very mean thing to say). The kind of house a Russian oligarch who fancied being an English country gent two weekends a year might have built.

I think we're supposed to worry along with them as to whether their Lego mansion runs over budget and doesn't get finished on time.

Their dog Maple is gorgeous though. No grumbles about Maple.

Window choice is so weird. Me and husband watched it and thought it needed stone windows with wooden sashes. Not the sage green plastic looking things every other modern new build in the UK has.

[quote FAQs]@Tuliptulip that would probably be incredibly expensive, old houses can costs hundreds of thousands to renovate and still not be as environmentally friendly as their new build which has used modern eco friendly technology and materials, plus she has planted over a 10000 trees, added the lake and bees, so far as part of a biodiversity programme.[/quote]
@FAQs Well I can’t imagine they’ve built that thing for less than many hundreds of thousands of pounds! It is definitely more environmentally friendly to renovate a building which already exists, using traditional/natural building methods, than to build a brand new building, however well insulated that might be.
It’s to do with the ‘embodied energy’ (ie the energy involved in creating a building, as well as then running it) – the intro in this link explains it quite well. (I may be a bit obsessed with old buildings, so bear with me).
www.spab.org.uk/advice/energy-efficiency-and-old-buildings-principles-and-priorities
And in any case if you are going to build a new building, ffs make it one that has an interesting design, not looking like the Sylvanian Families Grand Hotel
[great to have the trees/bees though!]

@Helpel

Window choice is so weird. Me and husband watched it and thought it needed stone windows with wooden sashes. Not the sage green plastic looking things every other modern new build in the UK has.

Don’t get me started on the PVC windows

@tara66

The door is too narrow and throws the look completely.

@tara66 you’re totally right Was trying to put my finger on what looked weird about it. The one in the OPs picture is that the front entrance or maybe a back door? You’re right it’s out of proportion and needed more of a large double maybe with porch/vestibule.

@Tuliptulip she is very experienced in renovating properties, Rise Hall the heating system for example cost to run over the term she owned it almost as much as the new build cost. So they’ll be saving considerable sums long-term, not all old buildings can be made energy sufficient it very much depends on several factors but they can certainly be improved. If they are listed this can be at huge costs, I’ve worked with owners/tenants on listed buildings for over a decade.

The new build will settle, it’ll age and the materials should become less of a contrast, but it’ll take a couple of decades for that to happen.

Plus no VAT on new builds vs renovations (unless you are down to barely anything and renovating a virtual ruin).

I quite like SB, and her kids (and dog) are lovely.

I confess to feeling a bit of envy watching her perfect family playing table tennis in that enormous hall in their stunning new-build (I'd have loved to be able to design and build a house but we've never had the means).

But the house itself, nah.......no way would I have built that.

Her place in London was AMAZING.

Used to love the Sarah Beeny of old, always pregnant, often looking a complete fright and smiling, but not with her eyes , when listening to the idiot excuses of home improvers that hadn't taken her advice.

But I was SHOCKED when I saw the house. It's fuuuuugly.

Like very ugly.

It's no particular style . Sort of grand disney.

That weird roof bit and the ugly painted stone. Marble hall and yet PVC windows.

Love her boys though.

I'm not a fan of the garage but I wouldn't say no to living there. I always look at beautiful old buildings and think it's a shame modern houses are so boring or overly modern in comparison. At the same time, I wouldn't want to deal with the restrictions that come with owning a beautiful old building.

It's the second series, first series was interesting and not plain sailing

@SomethingBeginningWithX I'm the same! Love her!

@RubyTuesday70

We went to a gorgeous English castle a few years ago, and I've always really loved it from the outside..... but we made the mistake of doing a guided tour. At that point, we discovered that it had American owners and it was horrific inside....... like a Disney version of a Princess castle. We were aghast and the poor tour guide had obviously seen lots of reactions like it.

That's what this house reminds me of............

Haha, I'm pretty sure I know where you mean

The problem with renovating old houses us that they will undoubtedly be listed. So not only does that make renovations more expensive and they are limited and what they are allowed to do, but they have to clear everything through English Heritage and it all takes so long.

I like it (and Sarah) but bloody hell no one needs a house that big.

I honestly think it’s not desirable.
Having not enough space and a house that’s too small with a family is not nice and causes strain.
But more space than you need like that, to the extreme, I think is not nice. It can too easily lead to families living separate lives under the same roof, losing each other.
What’s the betting that they have a snug or cosy sitting room that along with the kitchen they spend most of their time in?
It’s excessive and unnecessary and they could have had a lovely spacious home with all the rooms you might need, that was a lot lot smaller,
It makes me feel a bit sick actually.

"I don't mind the house I just don't know why they tacked 2 sheds either side of it."

Agreed. Cheap and nasty.

On the thread about the first series someone asked about the two side additions which destroy the Georgian style symmetry. One is of wood and the other of a red brick. Both look totally incongruous with the style / look of the house.
I thought they were temporary - perhaps used as offices for those working on the site. I do wish somebody would ask Sarah or Graham ( someone on Mumsnet is bound to know them ) and come back and tell us about the side additions.
I like pastiche architecture

I like pastiche architecture

I didn't realise there was a name for it but yes, me too! Growing up I was desperate for a mock-Tudor house instead of our squarely 60s house. Nowadays I'd definitely go faux-Georgian with all the rows of windows 😍

I don't think it has the right proportions; it should have wings.

@User2638483

I honestly think it’s not desirable. Having not enough space and a house that’s too small with a family is not nice and causes strain. But more space than you need like that, to the extreme, I think is not nice. It can too easily lead to families living separate lives under the same roof, losing each other. What’s the betting that they have a snug or cosy sitting room that along with the kitchen they spend most of their time in? It’s excessive and unnecessary and they could have had a lovely spacious home with all the rooms you might need, that was a lot lot smaller, It makes me feel a bit sick actually.

Even if the house was a quarter the size it is it would still make for a spacious home for a family of 6. I agree that 90% of the time they'll just end up using the kitchen, two reception rooms and their bedrooms.

@BalladOfBarryAndFreda

I’m watching it now and watching Graham going round the stately home and looking at the ornate plaster mouldings, marble floors and high ceilings and seeming surprised at the details, scale and potential costs involved but they’ve owned an enormous house of a similar period and intricacy before and know about the designs, ceiling heights and plaster details . It’s not a surprise. Obviously the visit and reactions were all for TV drama purposes but it just goes to show how (again) disingenuous all this is.

Agree - all that faux 'complicated family drama' stuff around the son having his piano lesson via Teams. As if they didn't know when that would be.

I'll admit I didn't watch much of the Rise Hall stuff when realised just a big advert for her business but I do remember some of the repairs were really on the cheap - like plywood with fake lines to look like floorboards. Have I imagined that?

I don't like the house particularly but surely the size of the house depends on the sort of life you lead and if you host a lot, have friends over etc. With four boys, even if they have just one friend each staying over, that is four extra people in the house. And those lads are teens and tweens and that age group can be quite loud and energetic, take up space and move in packs

I really like Sarah and her hubby as TV presenters.

But, I also think they're just doing the new build, pretending for it to be their "home", but with the intention of selling it for a whopping profit once it's done. As long as they move into it as their "home" and stay there a while as a "home", they'll avoid capital gains tax. Like the Yorkshire Hall they renovated, I think they're running a property investment business, rather than buying homes to live in. The capital gains tax savings will be enormous.

Curious as to why the sons are featuring

Trying to make them famous like Gordon Ramsey daughter in strictly, or Zoe ball's son suddenly at music awards for no reason or Richard and Judy daughter always in papers/ on tv but didn't stick.. !

I live near Rise Hall. She was hiring it out as a wedding venue. I've been to a couple of weddings there and it is lovely. She's sold it to an events/wedding planning company who are continuing to use it as a wedding venue.