'Saddest ever'
Grand Designs: From a ‘failed’ lighthouse renovation that left the owner bankrupt to a house that split up a marriage
One owner's dream to have an art-deco lighthouse saddled him with millions of pounds of debt
GRAND Designs has wowed viewers for years, but not every home becomes a whimsical piece of avant-garde architecture.
Some of the homes on the show have left their owners in debt and have split up marriages. Here are the homes on Grand Designs that didn't go to plan.
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Chesil Cliff House
Chesil Cliff House has unfortunately earned the nickname: the "saddest ever" Grand Designs house.
The art-deco inspired mansion was built by Edward and Hazel Short, who put their life savings into the project.
The couple also hoped that the house would look like a lighthouse on the cliff.
However, they angered locals before construction even began, when they knocked down the 1950s home on the site.
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Later, construction costs began to sour and the couple were soon in debt totalling £7 million.
Locals objected again, as they claimed that the lights from the house would dazzle drivers and obscure the seaside view.
There were also concerns over coastal erosion making the house unsafe, which Edward dismissed.
Eventually, the stress and strain of the build drove Edward and Hazel to divorce.
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Selling the home proved difficult too.
There were widespread rumours that pop icon Harry Styles was interested in the seaside home, but they were found to be untrue.
The house is being sold by Joint Receivers and Savills UK property management for a reduced price of asking price of £5.25m.
In an interview with the The Sun, Edward said the project left him close to bankruptcy and that he now considers himself to be a "minus millionaire".
“The debt is a lot higher than £5.25 million,” he tells the Sun.
“Technically most millionaires do owe millions but what they have in assets is usually much greater than what they owe.
"I've managed to turn to the dark side and become a minus millionaire.”
As presenter Kevin McCloud said in the episode about the house: “If a lighthouse has a single message that it shouts out, it is this: ‘Stay away – or risk destruction’.”
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London Water Tower
The London Water Tower was derelict when property developer Leigh Osborne and his partner Graham Voce bought it in 2010.
The couple paid £380,000 for the property, which was filled with trees and dead pigeons.
It has originally supplied water to Lambeth Workhouse, where Charlie Chaplin had lived with his mother.
Leigh and his partner hoped to invest £600,000 into the property but soon found that they had spent £2 million on refurbishments.
They even had to put some of the costs onto Leigh's grandmother's credit card.
The property was successfully refurbished and became a lavish home, with five bedrooms, four bathrooms and a reception area at the top of the tower with views across London.
However, the home struggled to sell when it was put on the market in 2018 for £6.5 million.
The price was reduced to £4.75 million, but the home was eventually taken off the market.
The couple relisted the home in 2021 for £2.75m and, thankfully, it was snapped up by property developer Jamie Hamer and housemate Susanna.
I live opposite Grand Designs’ famous water tower conversion - it looks so out of place on our road
The Cob House
Kevin McCabbe decided to build his dream house, in 2011, from cob.
Cob is a mixture of clay, earth, straw, water and sand.
He appeared on Grand Designs alongside his then-wife Rose, but problems quickly became apparent.
Bad weather prevented them from building quickly and this caused frustration for Rose, as she branded her husband a "perfectionist".
When presenter Kevin McCloud returned to the property, the owner had split with his wife.
The couple had been forced to sell their £1.1 million home in order to cover costs and Kevin was forced to return to work full-time.
The house did get finished though and used utilities, such as solar-heated water, to dramatically reduce costs.
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Cloontykilla Castle
Former West End star Sean Simon bought Cloontykilla Castle in order to fulfil a childhood dream.
The star, who had leading roles in productions like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, wanted to own a castle in his hometown.
It was originally built in Roscommon, in 1839, as a garden folly.
A garden folly is a purely decorative building.
However, Sean bought the castle for £117,000 in 1989 and reportedly borrowed £1.2million to restore the home.
The plans to create ten bedrooms was reduced to 6, because the small windows made the rooms look gloomy.
There were monetary issues too, as Ireland went into a recession and banks sought a £40bn bail out.
By 2010, only the ground floor was finished and the structural engineer resigned the following year.
Although the castle is still unfinished, the castle was opened to tourists in 2021.
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Low Impact 'Hobbit' House
The low impact "Hobbit" house was built for just £27,000 but the project ended in disaster.
Simon and Jasmine Dale built their fantasy home in the Lammas eco village in Pembrokeshire, West Wales.
At the time, they had just £500 in the bank and the house took six years to build.
Their dream home was built to be "biodiverse" and so used reclaimed glass, heat-retaining concrete and rammed earth.
However, a blaze on New Year's Day in 2018 devastated the home and left the family homeless.
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At the time, Jasmine told The Telegraph: "We're still in complete shock, I can't say how I feel. But we know the feeling, our first home burnt down so we have been here before I suppose.
"We're trying to hope that this will be a blessing in disguise and we have received so much love, but we know we won't be able to recreate this home."
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