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I hate these Grand Design Houses

126 replies

pushchair · 28/01/2009 22:02

They all seem to be hard glass and steel with no clutter or 'normality' Where are the magazines,tissues,toys,books even. The couples are all really demanding and perfectionist.GAH

OP posts:
TiddlerTiddler · 29/01/2009 13:39

A lot depends on the owners for the episode to work. They need to get involved. Last night's guys just seemed to so up themselves! Seemed very detached. I just didn't warm to them at all.

I also think they didn't tell the truth about the cost. He even looked like he was lying when he answered the question!

I was also wondering about what that other big house thing was beside them that no one mentioned!!!

paolosgirl · 29/01/2009 13:41

Was the 2 buildings not joined by the glass balcony that Kevin described as a Juliette feature (that man is such a wanker)at the end of the programme? I'm confused now...

MrsJamin · 29/01/2009 13:43

oh don't have a go at kevin, he's wonderful and unlike most presenters, he knows what he's talking about and doesn't patronise the audience as much as he could do.
my least favourite couple have to be the ones who took over the old violin factory, they were completely up themselves, they just seemed rich, self-obsessed and lonely.

paolosgirl · 29/01/2009 13:50

I'm not sure that I agree with your sentiments about Kevin, but the violin factory couple were very caught up in themselves, weren't they! Milko seemed incapable of enjoying anything, and she was scarily self-controlled. The bit when they were talking about 'commissioning art' and how Milko 'didn't understand the commissioning process' whilst dropping 'the Tracey Emmin piece' into conversation was hysterical. Does anyone you know actually have these conversations?

paolosgirl · 29/01/2009 13:50

Were the 2 buildings, not was

themoon66 · 29/01/2009 13:53

Damn damn... missed this last night because DS was on the Wii.

chocoholic · 29/01/2009 13:53

I love it when you can clearly see that Kevin doesn't like the people or the design.

I've had a nose on the internet (having a hugely busy afternoon here) and it appears that the other building is the old Mill and that it has been converted into flats here. Only £500k each!

paolosgirl · 29/01/2009 13:58

Aha - I see now. Wow - that block of flats next door were kept quiet last night, weren't they!

TheThoughtPolice · 29/01/2009 14:03

The kitchen was tiny and vile. That building/pair of buildings had so much potential but I agree that it was just turned into a sterile, cold box.

There are a few that have been . There was one in a village in Herefordshire about 5 years ago, a young couple (both 25) 'built it'. Anyway, the whole premise was it being a family thing and a bespoke grand design but the truth was that it was actually an out of the box new build on a very small estate being built by her (the female half of the couple) fathers company. The house was quite sweet but it did just seem to be a glorified advert for the oak frame company (owned by her father). BTW - the village isn't far from here and so I know it to be true. The bloke has since bought up patches of land in the area and built more 'micro estates' of identikit oak framed 'cottages'.

TheThoughtPolice · 29/01/2009 14:06

My fave was the couple from Chesterfield who did the Waterworks conversion. They did almost every scrap of back breaking work themselves, including removing the old, HUGE, pumping tanks etc out of the building, and it was FABULOUS. I loved that.

LazyLinePainterJane · 29/01/2009 14:12

They all seem to look like University buildings these days.....

TheThoughtPolice · 29/01/2009 14:18

My favourite, The Waterworks

The Herefordshire con cottage

Badly planned

Bless them, the family were lovely but this was a total dogs dinner

I loved this one, it felt really innovative and such a great use of a tiny building plot !

Lovely house but a bit conversion country house by numbers

This is that weird big empty one in Leith, Edinburgh

This one was nice too. This couple were rescuing a building that had been in the family for generations, small budget but lots of lurvvvvvvvvvvve

Blimey, I heart GD

& lol @ 'I'm a monkeys aunt'

omshanti · 29/01/2009 14:22

ohhhhh grand design houses....i love them...i think everyone should live in houses like that...we'd all be happier.

MrsBoo · 29/01/2009 14:23

Hated last night's one. Me and DH were watching in different rooms and he kept coming in and rolling eyes at some of the crap that they were coming out with. And a touch of the emperors new clothes at that special steel walkway. Wife was oohing at the border etc - FFS it costs £££

TheCrackFox · 29/01/2009 14:25

I loved the Waterworks, it was done with love and sheer hard graft.

TheThoughtPolice · 29/01/2009 14:26

TCF - They never once lost their passion for it, did they ? Even when they were working in minus temps with barely enough light to see the end of their own noses.

whitenoise · 29/01/2009 14:28

I must have missed teh catch up on the woodman one...what a lovely end!

TheThoughtPolice · 29/01/2009 14:29

The woodman one was a bit too earnest for me, I'm afraid.

whitenoise · 29/01/2009 14:32

the final cost was £400k for the land and building slipping down in the mud + £440k for the work they had done + 10%

It would be nice to see someone build a "normal" house on there one day ie with bricks and real stairs and a bit of carpet somewhere!

TheThoughtPolice · 29/01/2009 14:35

Not nearly the same entertainment value in watching a Barrat style house come in on time and budget built by a normal, rational person/couple/family though, is there ?

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 29/01/2009 14:35

There was the bloke who built his whole house by hand in wood from the forest around it, that was pretty inspiring.

TheThoughtPolice · 29/01/2009 14:36

that's the woodman one, TDWP

FaintlyMacabre · 29/01/2009 14:36

This was my favourite.
Lovely people who did loads of the work themselves. And of course the obligatory pregnancy

whitenoise · 29/01/2009 14:36

but it would make a change

TheThoughtPolice · 29/01/2009 14:38

I thought the Peckham one was innovative but it didn;t feel homely to me. It felt like a playground for the bloke (Monty?) to try out all his boyish inventions.