Posts tagged ‘Grand Designs’
Grand Designs ‘Wooden Box’ house for sale
News has reached us of yet another Grand Designs house for sale, which begs the following question:
If, like most participants, you’d put so much time, effort, cash and emotion into creating the home of your dreams, why would you want to sell up a couple of years later?
Yes, the recession may have been a factor for some but I wonder whether it’s ever a wise decision to throw every penny you have (or can borrow) into a property, as many of the programme’s homeowners continue to do under the watchful eye of Kevin McCloud.
Equally, perhaps it’s a bad idea to invite in a TV crew to witness your whole ‘Dream Home Journey’ warts and all if you’re then going to try and sell later on.
The latest Grand Designs home to hit the market is Longwood House in Cambridgeshire aka The ‘Wooden Box’. It first appeared on series three of the show in 2003 and was then featured on a ‘Revisited’ episode five years later.
3-bed detached house for sale in Southwick, Cambridgeshire. Asking price £700,000. Chesterton Humberts: 0843 2829 927
As is customary in the series, many hoops were jumped before the project was completed; the house was later extended as the 2008 ‘Revisited’ programme revealed.
The property is now on the market for £700,000 through Chesterton Humberts in Stamford, but to give an idea of the number that don’t become life-long homes, there’s also…
The Curved House, Clapham
4-bed house to rent in Clapham. Rental price: £1,900 per week. Morgan Randall: 0843 2822 080
This re-design was originally about providing more living space but became a Grand Designs classic due to the planning permission problems concerning a giant tree which resulted in the curved wall.
Earlier this year, the owners decided to put the property on the rental market. Ironically, they’d decided that the house was too big for them.
Brighton Modern Mansion
6-bed house for sale in Brighton. Asking price £3.5 million. Hamptons International: 0843 2816 026
A very contemporary design with outstanding countryside views. This property featured on the show just last year, leading people to question why it was up for sale so soon after.
No takers so far despite it having been on the market for several months.
The Loch House
5-bed house for sale near Killearn. Asking price £1.5 million. Savills: 0843 2821 599
This Scottish house sits right on the edge of Loch Lomond so you can imagine the wonderful views from the double height glass windows.
It’s another fairly recent one having featured on the programme in 2008, and again, it’s been lingering on the market for a while.
Five To View: Properties with fishing lakes
Following on from our seafood flavoured Five to View, this week’s theme is properties with fishing lakes.
We’ve cast our net across the country and found some tantalising catches, including one beauty which some of you may recognise from Grand Designs.
It must be the season for it, because there were plenty of fish in this particular property sea to choose from – here are our favourite five:
(Click on pics for more images & full property details)
1. LOCHSIDE LUXURY (as featured on Grand Designs) -
£1,900,000
2. PRETTY KETTLE OF FISH –
£1,150,000
3. WHAT LURKS BENEATH
£1,150,000
4. SALMON PINK
£950,000
5. (RELATIVELY) CHEAPSKATE -
£525,000
Why is a Brighton Grand Design being sold so soon?
Fans of Channel 4 TV show Grand Designs will recognise this super-shiny new modernist home in Brighton, which featured on our screens in April last year. But I’m surprised it’s on the market – for £3.5 million – quite so soon as I had thought the creators – local couple Barry and Julie Surtees – were going to live in the thing rather than sell it off.
The sale is also a surprise given the levels of pain the couple went through in front of the Channel 4 cameras (and Kevin McCloud’s withering wit) to get the project finished.
But is it a liveable space? I have to admit that many of these ultra-clever, uber-contemporary properties leave me a bit cold – they just don’t seem particularly homely – but there are some pleasingly quirky elements that do tickle my Bauhaus-style fancy.
Take the fourth-floor living area called ‘the pod’, for example, with its brightly coloured, super-sized sofas and that motorbike on the wall; although I’m not sure if Kevin McCloud would have approved of such ‘mass market’ frivolity.
But it’s the wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling windows that I really love – and I’m astonished that Surtees can bear to leave those incredible views behind.
For more information, call Hamptons International (Brighton and Hove) on 0843 2816 026.
Five To View: Architect Designed Properties
For a home with the wow factor, it’s hard to beat a bespoke architect designed property.
We’ve found some fantastic examples from our listings but it’s worth bearing in mind that architects are there for everyone and not just for the grandest of designs.
Indeed, it’s thanks to the popularity of TV personalities like Kevin McCloud and George Clarke that more and more ‘normal’ people are opting to commission an architect to design or improve their home these days. Fine work, chaps.
Here are five of our favourite architectural creations from our current listings:
(Click on pics for more images & property details)
1. London SW8
£1,950,000
2. London SW19
£1,650,000
3. Esher, Surrey
£1,285,000
4. Orpington, Kent
£1,200,000
5. Bath
£645,000
Grand Designs: ‘Curved House’ For Sale
What do you do when your building plot includes an enormous horse chestnut tree that you’re not allowed to cut down?
Grand Designs devotees will remember that architect Peter Romaniuk and his clients David and Anjana Devoy solved this problem by creating a beautiful curved house that traces the perimeter of the site and extends an elegant, protective arm around the tree and the garden.
The tree provided further inspiration in the form of a timber clad upper floor that was constructed from chestnut wood by a specialist boat builder. The lower floor is walled with glass and leads out onto an enclosed courtyard with the tree as a central feature.
This, I have to say, is one of the most memorable houses in the history of Grand Designs and the sainted McCloud was suitably effusive:
“This is a truly stunning building, adorned with lots of wonderful touches. Despite all their efforts to save money, Anjana and David are indulging their home with the best they can get. And I think it’s worth it. They have space now, and light, and the makings of a home with real excitement…”
It is, indeed, a thing of beauty. If you have £1.5m to spare, Friend & Flacke will be happy to hear from you (Tel:0843 2811 308).
