Grand Designs new series.....

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  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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    Far too white for me. They are going to be endlessly cleaning it.
  • Heston VestonHeston Veston Posts: 6,478
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    LostFool wrote: »
    Far too white for me. They are going to be endlessly cleaning it.

    Well, only until it falls off the cliff.
  • snoweyowlsnoweyowl Posts: 1,922
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    Entertaining edition. Nice people. But over £600k in total spent for a glass box that's virtually unsaleable and could quite suddenly become uninhabitable. Cripes
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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    snoweyowl wrote: »
    Entertaining edition. Nice people. But over £600k in total spent for a glass box that's virtually unsaleable and could quite suddenly become uninhabitable. Cripes

    Yes, the fact that they were a nice couple (and family) was the only thing that saved it for me. They may have been lunatics but they were nice lunatics. Too many of the people on GD are just far up their own rear extension.

    I just hope that when I retire I have the money and ambition for such a folly.
  • Johnny_CashJohnny_Cash Posts: 2,561
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    I have to admit, I nodded when Kevin mentioned the generation that are enjoying their money now, as thats essentially what my wife and I are doing. So if the house isnt around for their kids so be it.
  • DirtyhippyDirtyhippy Posts: 2,059
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    A fantastic example of a vanity project, but if it gives them some short lived pleasure then good luck to them. Not to my taste but looked well built.
  • jimbo1962jimbo1962 Posts: 2,552
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    another example of "Hello, is that the glass supplier? .. Im going to need 20 effin acres of 12 millimetre, clear, safety glass please.."
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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    jimbo1962 wrote: »
    another example of "Hello, is that the glass supplier? .. Im going to need 20 effin acres of 12 millimetre, clear, safety glass please.."

    I've ever seen the attraction of living in a glass box without any blinds or curtains. Try going to the bathroom in the middle of the night or having a lie in on a summer morning.
  • roddydogsroddydogs Posts: 10,298
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    jimbo1962 wrote: »
    another example of "Hello, is that the glass supplier? .. Im going to need 20 effin acres of 12 millimetre, clear, safety glass please.."

    Triple glazed of course.
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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    jimbo1962 wrote: »
    another example of "Hello, is that the glass supplier? .. Im going to need 20 effin acres of 12 millimetre, clear, safety glass please.."

    "And, by the way, we are down a tiny lane so your truck won't be able to get here"
  • anotherlongersanotherlongers Posts: 1,792
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    How does a house teetering on the edge of a cliff, one good storm away from disaster, get a mortgage and insurance?

    "Hello, I'd like a £450,000 mortgage and full household insurance on a house I'm building and precariously balancing on a cliff edge."

    "Ok, no problem, sir. Would you like it in cash?"

    Surely every mortgage and insurance company in the world would turn them down?
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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    Surely every mortgage and insurance company in the world would turn them down?

    I'm presuming they built it with their own savings and didn't need a mortgage. You can get a mortgage for a self-build but they tend to be more expensive as there is more risk in the project going belly up and the bank being unable to get all of their money back.
  • ClarkF1ClarkF1 Posts: 6,587
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    He said he'd be trying to get a discount on all the materials to try and stay within budget. There was no mention about this later on. I wonder if he got any.
  • SmintSmint Posts: 4,692
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    Good grief, what a pair of (albeit likeable) lunatics! £600K on a house that's only a few metres of mud and a bit of coir matting away from collapse? It's not just the erosion I'd be worrying about, it's when the expert said that it was when the ground got waterlogged as well as the erosion, then I'd be worried about fissures forming

    Also . . . a lot of these houses are getting a bit samey to me. White, boxy, lots of glass (and in this case, clear glass in the shower visible from the coastal path - I suppose the erosion will remove that view in due course, but even so . . .!)
  • IggymanIggyman Posts: 8,021
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    Smint wrote: »
    Good grief, what a pair of (albeit likeable) lunatics! £600K on a house that's only a few metres of mud and a bit of coir matting away from collapse? It's not just the erosion I'd be worrying about, it's when the expert said that it was when the ground got waterlogged as well as the erosion, then I'd be worried about fissures forming

    Given its proximity to the cliff edge and the UK's increasingly stormy winter weather I'd wager that within ten years it will be teering on the edge (if not already in pieces on the beach).

    It seems like a huge waste of money - even if they do somehow manage to extend its life I would hate to live in a place that is in such a precarious location given the ongoing worry whenever a storm hits. It wouldn't exactly be relaxing.
    Also . . . a lot of these houses are getting a bit samey to me. White, boxy, lots of glass (and in this case, clear glass in the shower visible from the coastal path - I suppose the erosion will remove that view in due course, but even so . . .!)

    That bugs me too - so many Grand Designs seem to consist of these stark white boxes; thankfully though there are usually one or two each series which have an aesthetic 'warmth' to them.
  • kegsiekegsie Posts: 2,800
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    Iggyman wrote: »
    Given its proximity to the cliff edge and the UK's increasingly stormy winter weather I'd wager that within ten years it will be teering on the edge (if not already in pieces on the beach).

    I can't wait for the Grand Designs Revisited programme in a year or two (or six months if we have storms like last winter)
  • CaxtonCaxton Posts: 28,881
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    All rooms in these white boxy type houses appear to have no cosy-type comfort, usually we see a white sofa in the middle of a stark vast space with a high ceiling (minimalist I think they call it) no curtains and very little else in sight — not my idea of a comfortable place to live.

    Then we often see a huge kitchen with multiple cookers and massive worktops that would even be above specification for a chef like Michel Roux rather designed for a person appear they would find difficulty cooking fish fingers and frozen chips. It all looks pretentious rubbish rather than a dwelling, with a few home comforts to be seen anywhere.

    When we have a get a revisit programme, the rooms look the same — an over-the-top stark, cold, show home. No newspapers or magazines lying about, slippers on the floor half eaten crisp packets, a handbag, or any of the usual detritus that lie about in most people's rooms.

    That house on a cliff will not be there for many years and like many properties that were built on sand dunes on the East Coast everything and everybody will be blamed when it falls in the sea.
  • StansfieldStansfield Posts: 6,097
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    kegsie wrote: »
    I can't wait for the Grand Designs Revisited programme in a year or two (or six months if we have storms like last winter)
    I expect a divorce - if the house ends up in the Sea, anytime soon.
    LostFool wrote: »
    Far too white for me. They are going to be endlessly cleaning it.
    No Grandchildren welcome.;-) - I have to say, not a Fan of these type of houses, but this one, looked stunning from the air.
    gasketum wrote: »
    I don't know if it's just the way they edit it, but this design seems rather insane. The location, the budget...
    However this is edited - it's going to seem insane.
  • SupratadSupratad Posts: 10,402
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    Caxton wrote: »
    All rooms in these white boxy type houses appear to have no cosy-type comfort, usually we see a white sofa in the middle of a stark vast space with a high ceiling (minimalist I think they call it) no curtains and very little else in sight — not my idea of a comfortable place to live.

    Then we often see a huge kitchen with multiple cookers and massive worktops that would even be above specification for a chef like Michel Roux rather designed for a person appear they would find difficulty cooking fish fingers and frozen chips. It all looks pretentious rubbish rather than a dwelling, with a few home comforts to be seen anywhere.

    When we have a get a revisit programme, the rooms look the same — an over-the-top stark, cold, show home. No newspapers or magazines lying about, slippers on the floor half eaten crisp packets, a handbag, or any of the usual detritus that lie about in most people's rooms.

    That house on a cliff will not be there for many years and like many properties that were built on sand dunes on the East Coast everything and everybody will be blamed when it falls in the sea.

    I'd imagine if people know "the telly" is coming to specifically film their house, those people will have a blooming good tidy-up.

    Stark spaces with no curtains is an important point to consider though. That bedroom in the recent show, with its wraparound glass walls and ceiling, well that's all very well if you don't mind getting up with the sunrise at 4am in summer.
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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    Caxton wrote: »
    Then we often see a huge kitchen with multiple cookers and massive worktops that would even be above specification for a chef like Michel Roux rather designed for a person appear they would find difficulty cooking fish fingers and frozen chips. It all looks pretentious rubbish rather than a dwelling, with a few home comforts to be seen anywhere.

    When I visit someone's home I'd much rather see that it was "lived in" and used as a family home than look like a clinical show home or an operating theatre. I know someone who spent £20,000 on a state of the art designer kitchen and is always spotless but never uses it for anything other than heating ready meals.
  • TouristaTourista Posts: 14,338
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    I just didn't think that this looked like a home, more like a display cabinet.

    As for its location, I will simply say YOU ARE LOONIES!.

    Anyone know how many of these are "revisited" episodes?. Seems the last few series had them, just wondered if its the same this series?....

    Still think that the (water?) plant with the Mini as a desk is the best GD seen, followed by the couple in the castle. Nothing in the last few series come even close to those couples dedication, and breadth of vision in their designs.

    If he wants to do another "re revisited" ep on either of those, I'd certainly be interested in seeing them.
  • ntscuserntscuser Posts: 8,219
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    Tourista wrote: »
    Still think that the (water?) plant with the Mini as a desk is the best GD seen

    They never explained how they heated that huge open expanse? :confused:

    Also the owner was a record dealer, wonder how he's doing today with the proliferation of music downloads?
  • SupratadSupratad Posts: 10,402
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    Wood! Wood! So much wood! Certainly an interesting building and programme rather than the usual £800,000 build and faux-modernism.
    That chap played fast and loose with H&S and luck was on his side. I wonder if saving £500 on another days crane hire would have seemed a small price to pay from the viewpoint of a hospital bed.

    What does intrigue me though is exactly how the upper part stands up, as apart from the hipped end, there was nothing but the vertical rigidity of the side walls resisting the thrust from the roof, which given its weight, must be considerable.
    I wonder if the whole thing works monolithically, if there is such a word.
  • MarkBluemelMarkBluemel Posts: 1,776
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    Supratad wrote: »
    Wood! Wood! So much wood! Certainly an interesting building and programme rather than the usual £800,000 build and faux-modernism.
    That chap played fast and loose with H&S and luck was on his side. I wonder if saving £500 on another days crane hire would have seemed a small price to pay from the viewpoint of a hospital bed.

    Indeed - we were rather taken with the result, but thought it came within a hair's breadth of total tragic disaster a number of times.

    Watching him cut concrete with a disc cutter next to his feet in trainers was wince-inducing and I said several times that any site foreman would have sent him home...
  • ClarkF1ClarkF1 Posts: 6,587
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    Bit hair-raising to say the least. Working in the pitch dark without much light was really stupid. Didn't he have the crane the next day anyway.

    Very lucky when that first bolt broke that it didn't swing into the bloke with the hi-vis jacket on. I wasn't sure about the black cladding but it looked alright in the end.

    Next week's looks a bit mega. At least this one was a manageable size and was a decent budget.
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