design drama
Grand Designs’ ‘saddest ever episode’ sees family plunged into debt with marriage torn apart after 10 years of hell
GRAND Designs' 'saddest ever episode' saw a family plunged into debt and a marriage torn apart after 10 years of hell.
Work began on a lighthouse in an episode of the Channel 4 show back in 2010.
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The ambitious project featured plans for a round four-story tower, six bedrooms and an infinity pool and was the brainchild of Edward Short.
Ed and his family were supposed to move into the property in Down End once construction was completed, but the project spiraled out of control and became one of the show's most famous episodes when Ed lost everything.
The project plunged the family into debt and put an irreparable strain on his marriage to wife Hazel.
Ed told presenter Kevin McCloud on the show: "I have to take it on the chin - my ambitional vanity has probably collapsed the marriage. That's the truth."
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He also revealed he needed an extra £2 million to get the project completed.
The lighthouse went on to sit neglected for years before work finally resumed last year.
Ed, 50, has vowed to finish the project he started over a decade ago, with reporting that work is expected to be completed - weather permitting - by August.
Ed's story is one that has stuck in Kevin's mind, with him telling Stuff recently: "That was an amazing story – things just spiralled.
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"Many people reacted to it and thought we were (spinning) a moral tale. But we didn’t set out to push a moral tale. The build was supposed to be a beautiful folly.
"I already happened to know the architect, and it was a great location with a great group of people. It was all fitting into place. But when it did spiral, it went very badly wrong."
Grand Designs airs on Channel 4.
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