Anyone watch last Wednesday’s Grand Designs?

[TheGander]

The one where they knocked down a 1920s castle and started building a “ 21st century castle” on the site? Even though they already lived in a beautiful timber clad house in a beauty spot? Sold their house, London flat, raided mothers pension fund, borrowed, and kept going with the build, sinking million after million into it? It’s now for sale £7 million. Jaw dropping stuff.

Ooh, do you have a link for the house for sale?!

There’s times I go ‘what are you doing?!’ but then at the end it works (sometimes!) Must look it up!

Here’s the link to the estate agent listing sothebysrealty.co.uk/properties/buy/house-for-sale-warwickshire-alcester-wixford-alcester-castle-42235/

i did and couldn’t believe there wasn’t a thread on here!

It was insane, what on earth were they thinking 🤦‍♀️

He was very successful and wealthy yet took a risk like that.

Interesting to see it finished and furnished.

I just kept thinking they’d lose their two kids in that place 🤣

I know! I’ll be the first to admit I don’t understand how finance works at that level, but surely there comes a time when you have to get real. The press are saying the property is “ temporarily for sale”. What does that even mean? It’s also unfinished.

I didn't but I'd heard it was a crazy one. I'll catch up with it.

Or at least, it was unfinished when McCloud visited in September 2025. I think the estate agents’ bumpf is concentrating on the finished parts.

I suspect they are AI renders of what it could look like finished

Good point. I’d love to understand the strategy of “ temporarily putting it on the market “. Or is that just face saving and they are trying to cut their losses?

I think he said their investors mandated that it be put up for sale. I guess to prove it was worth the money and potentially recoup the money put into it?

It’s close to where I live. So ugly too, hardly a castle!

I saw it; he clearly comes from money and has since made a shed load more though in debt now I guess.
It's hideous and looks like a beige box, like a kid built a castle for a school project. I loved their barn and the test house

I can’t help seeing it as a tale of hubris. Why did they need a castle for a family of 4? They already had a beautiful house. Now it’s on the market, if it sells they lose it, if it doesn’t then what? The mortgage lenders get to repossess it? The upbeat ending to Wednesday ‘s program doesn’t make sense to me.

Fuck me that's hideous

5 million £ worth of hideous and it’s not even finished!

I thought the house could potentially have been a very interesting piece of architecture. But I just thought it was so wasteful for knock the old one down and the castle was just stupid big. Just very greedy. They were a bit of an odd match. He was obviously a posho from money and the wife was really ordinary (think she was a police officer). Sort of wondered if it was a lavender marriage!

£8m?! wtf! You rarely get anything over £2m in that area and you're talking top end beautiful houses. They'll be lucky.

Piers was incredibly unlikeable.

and what a monstrous house, it had no redeeming architectural features.

Well you do get houses higher than that, one down the road from me on Tiddington rd in Stratford is 3 mill for example and a search on Rightmove shows a few more.

But I agree! It is totally overpriced.

Completely agree with the hubris part, I also thought it was no coincidence that this episode was aired the week after the very moving episode with the lady who died and her and her partners ethos of (the Swedish word for it which I can't remember) of 'just enough''. Although their modest 'just enough' house still cost 750k! But 10x less than that ego project.

If I recall, the putting up for sale was, as other posters said, at the investors insistence but that Piers was hoping his businesses would make enough money in the time it took to find a buyer so they could pay everyone back and stay.

I’ve never understood why people think it’s worth getting into such huge debt for these projects.

Thanks for explaining the financial rationale @GingerRuby , that makes sense. It’s true the contrast with the previous week was stark. Perpetua’s iron grip on the finances for a start. I found that one oddly uplifting even though she died before it was completed, but she got to fulfil a dream and pass it all on to her partner.

Just watched it. My god what a stupid pair. WTF did they need to build such a massive ugly building.
I feel sorry for the locals who have to see it every day.