What is wrong with people who go on Grand Designs?

[RobynRB]

Seriously, time and time again it's the same thing. Why do people feel they need to build a house the size of a cinema complex and then moan when they run out money. Most of these things could be 10-20% smaller and you wouldn't even notice. Don't these people understand that materials like wood and concrete cost money so buy less of them and the house will be cheaper.

Speaking of which, last night was a classic case... we haven't got any money, but we bought this copper bath for our bedroom and this (frankly disgusting but I'm guessing ridiculously expensive) gold and black marble for our kitchen.

It struck me the reservoir building was big enough to build a reasonable house in, maybe with a smaller extension to the side. It certainly looked twice the size of my three bedroomed house on it's own.

And of course five minutes after they started they announced they were having a child. What brilliant timing...

There were, at least, two. The Huf Haus of the elderly couple and a Fritz-Bau house in Bath.
The one in Bath did look nice, but they were classic GD material.

@DigbyTheDigger

Brilliant. Thanks for sharing

I'm sure I remember one where the dad was a commercial diver and had to keep going abroad for weeks at a time to earn more money for the project, while the wife was stuck at home in the muddy caravan with the kids trying to keep the whole thing going. That was another poured concrete monstrosity as well

Wow 10 pages in a day, not a bad start!

A grand design for an MN thread 😉

I bet that they film a few extra each season and bin off any that went unexpectedly smoothly 😀

No it was the water works or something. They chopped a mini in half to make a desk, not because of money but because they had so much space.

It was an odd episode last night, something a little strange about the 'grandad Leo' situation. Were the producers trying to infer something? Was grandad Leo the mums' 'companion?' It just came across a little odd and little uncomfortable but I'm not entirely sure why. Actually I think it was because he contributed his entire estate to what turned out to be a complete vanity project for Instagram photo ops.

I was also surprised that you'd be so rude to your own mum knowing you were being filmed for a TV show. That wasn't a good look.

I like the Huf Haus builds - both the houses and the build approach. I like the idea that you do all the planning up front in detail but then the 11 German blokes rock up and put it all into place in the space of a couple of weeks (plus foundations time). Much better than bankrupting yourself whilst living in a leaky caravan for three years.

I love the art deco cliff house on completion, but from day one is was going to be a utter disaster.

I thought the "revisit" episode where he said things were much better after the divorce and was selling it was quite sad but I can't imagine ever signing up to quite such a lunatic idea. What I struggle to understand with some of these wealthy men building is that they must be able to afford the right advice but presumably they just ignore it.

And most importantly "where the heck did they get the money?"

OK I have just watched last night's and can't get over the debt they are in. And their plan to pay it is...to sell sweets online??? I'm just 😱😱😱

This episode made me worry for the old man, did he really freely sign over that plot? Wouldn't he rather have sold it and had a more comfortable old age? What if he had needed residential care?

Also did I hear right that he signed it over eight years earlier? They were lucky or there could have been a big inheritance tax bill.

Absolutely love GD! Watching the disco house episode now after reading this thread, and they’ve just smashed the digger into the neighbour’s garage… 😱

It was such a lovely mews before, the absolute entitlement is breathtaking.

When I was a little girl random old men always volunteered to buy me land to keep a pony on… perfectly normal situation and not at all creepy 😑

They mentioned lockdown last night, it was the reason they started the online confectionery business apparently 🤷

Was that the one where the dad loved the aesthetic of skateboarding parks? His wife looked so unhappy in the house when it was finished, and I don't blame her. It was dark, grey and depressing and looked like it smelt damp. I wish when people have their grand ideas, that both the party are in on the final look.

I remember Prus house. It was gorgeous, and felt like home. I remember she wanted space for all her cookery books.

The Chichester floating house in the link above was really nice and felt like a home too. The photos make it look a bit cold though, which is a shame.

We always remember Ben and his home in the woods where he was a forester and made charcoal if remember correctly.

The Huf Haus with the artist couple was stunning. I loved how they had space for all their artwork around the house and his and hers areas.

So many others I have forgotten about, probably for the best in the case of some.

I did like last nights, but with such a tight budget at the start they really couldn't afford a glorified entrance hall with their floating snug. They could have made a house half the size and then added as time went on. I really hope they don't have to sell up, but her face at the end showed like she had gone through lot of strain and she looked half the person she was at the start, more about her personal rather than her actual size iyswim. So had he too. Stress is hard on the body.

I think, though I'm not certain, that only the revisit episode is available on C4.

This looks to be the full original episode though... www.dailymotion.com/video/x6t318s

We are a small island and it seems insane to build such monster houses, throwing out light pollution as none of them seem to have blinds or curtains.

A Huf Haus is my dream 😊

I think I’ve found it on Allfour… Midlothian 2008.

All4

A house in the next street was on one of the George Clarke ones. Apart from
Peeing off all the neighbours and an ambulance, the house is looking very tatty now.

For those of you extolling Huf Haus - it seems to me to be the same open plan, floor to ceiling glass uncosiness as some of the GD buildings. What am I missing?

@longtompot
Grand Designs' Kevin McCloud compares £450k home to 'nuclear bunker' | Daily Mail Online

It was this one - as far as GD budgets and overspend go it was relatively modest, but it still looks bloody awful and the "swimming pool" is the stuff of nightmares. I'd be miserable as fuck living here. Also they seem to have a foldout bed in the (lol) "master bedroom"

Kevin was quite spectacularly rude about it, but had to pretend to have a change of heart at the end

Thank you! @skilpadde @alliscalm