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It does nothing for me, the eye looked far better IMO and he probably should just have done a slightly larger version of it to fit the whole family in
If you can afford that then there’s many, many better places to spend your money. In addition, people with that sort of money do not pay the asking price – I doubt it will get close to £10m.
The question then is whether he comes out of this with anything?
Only takes one to fall in love with the location though. Even if it doesn’t make 10, he’s in it for 5.5 I think. VC has funded it though so guess they’ll want their bit of any profit before he gets anything.
On a more practical point, how many days a year is that pool going to be useable? Even in the summer, wind might make it a less than enjoyable place to be?
You’ve met my brother then?
(Except the Saab was short lived and replaced with a Citroen DS….)
Living his best stereotype? 😀
(I love DSs!)
Keeping all of those windows clean is going to be a full time job!
Word on the street, well in the bay, is he'd had an offer of £7.5 million made and he'd turned it down. Braunton/Croyde lovely part of the world, but Croyde is a victim of its own success and properties there are stupid amounts of money.
Here we go again. New series, new opportunity for Grand Designs bingo.
Kev is still feeling the cold, multiple layers of knitwear and down.
I’m not optimistic about Granddad Leo seeing the finished build.
edit. Oh.
🙈🙈🙈
Aaaaand she’s pregnant
Just need huge delays on windows for a win in bingo.
Over budget in the design phase. Tick
Pregnant. Tick
Come on it’s gonna be glazing over budget / doesn’t fit / forgot we need windows for the bingo win….
VAT misunderstanding, that’s a new one🤣🤣🤣 Tbats not what the revenue call it💩
£1.2m is my guess.
I do like it.
Ok, fair enough, 2 bingo boxes ticked but not a full house. And they have a rather nice full house.
I liked it until the master bedroom with the shitter (unroofed and undoored) just behind the bed’s headboard! What’s that all about???
Do we think Leo was really someone else in this family?
I do like that. Not a fan of the marble though.
She’s obviously stopped eating pies now to pay for the mortgage
To be fair really like the house. Must be worth a fair penny, and you get the impression she won’t sell
Could you not just let AI generate Grand Designs by now?
Delay in the windows delivery from Germany, pregnant in a caravan, half a million quid over-budget, shake the money tree to magic up the half a mil…
Oh look… another visitor centre. Hurray!
£1.2m ……… 🥳🍾🍾
Makes me grateful for a bathroom door to be honest. They clearly don't partake in a dirty Friday night kebab and the obvious resulting effects.
I bet they’ll struggle to afford a dirty Friday night kebab 😂
Its very nice sans the missing door bit.
I think I would be tempted to cut a few corners on the finish to save a few £10’s of thousands. Landscaping, marble kitchen, Corten steel water feature, etc.
Clearly sky diving instructing pays better than you might think
Fascinating to see the inside of the Gower house tho....it's a couple of miles from me and I've cycled/run past it dozens of times....I've never seen a single sign of anyone actually living there tho.
Also that architect bollox about taking the landscape, removing it, building a house then putting the landscape back....before they knocked it down to build the concrete thing, there was a perfectly nice, big, conventional house on that site.
I liked it until the master bedroom with the shitter (unroofed and undoored) just behind the bed’s headboard! What’s that all about???
I love my wife more than life itself but hearing her strain the vegetables whilst I’m having a lie in with a cuppa isn’t my idea of fun for £1.2m.
The upper floor of the curved bit is a complete waste of space (complete with random chairs making it look like a waiting room), but i can see how it made the space underneath work.
I just can't get my head around how an audiologist and skydiving instructor can fund a £1.2m build. Also, a £1.2m build in rural Herefordshire makes no sense.
In bitch mode, some of that £1.2m must have gone on elocution lessons and a makeover for her 😂
Oh and the obsession with "grandad" Leo is weird.
A typical start to the series. They have £700k so the architect designs something that costs £1.1 to £1.4m to build. Those years of training clearly paid off.
Even having scraped the money from somewhere how they are going to service the debt is a mystery. I was in hysterics at the end when she said she wouldn’t have done it if she knew the costs at the beginning. But she did and still did it
The upper floor of the curved bit is a complete waste of space (complete with random chairs making it look like a waiting room), but i can see how it made the space underneath work.
Yep I did think that, especially having a toddler running round. I bet they don’t go up there until the kid is 10yrs old
This trend for having your bog / shower in the bedroom is odd as has been mentioned above, my Mrs goes to work earlier than I do. Thankfully a door separates her having a morning dump and shower whilst I get my beauty sleep. I bet they end up using a bog and shower at the other end of the house
I hope they don’t end up getting divorced and bankrupt. He was clearly stressed by the money, she was blinkered by links to Grandad. He will want to sell and she won’t, they will both work themselves to death to pay the mortgage, end up bankrupt and divorced
Shame about the budget finish not!
They must have been desperate for cash !
That oak flooring was industrial depth.
Saved £8000!!! by doing that bit themselves, the contrators must have overcharged everywhere?
The pictures on the wall too , crazy spending
Did you see their dog!
The mum may leave them loads of money , she may have a Putin moment of the entrance !
Good design but not a family home.
I do like semi buried buildings for some reason.
Caught the last quarter or so. Can’t say I found it an attractive building from the outside and it looked like living in it would involve a lot of walking.
Nice views but not 1.2m worth. Agree the Grandfather fixation was a bit weird but maybe hammed up by the production company.
I liked the house, can’t get why you’d want to be that close to a toilet in bed…. And if you’re that tight on money - none of that landscaping was anything you couldn’t have done with a small digger and some well spent evenings and weekends.
It was a bit weird in places, I agree.
I liked bits of it, the upstairs was just an odd waste of space, could they not have just had the full height and boxed in the end as a mezzanine snug over the kitchen.
Looked like a very expensive way to build a house, would they not have gotten exactly the same end result from breeze locks and rendering it afterwards?
I like the shower and bath in the room, that's cool, not so keen on the toilet and sink.
Outside looked a mess still. I know they ran out of budget but just running over everything with a petrol tiller and scattering grass seed isn't expensive.
Outside looked a mess still. I know they ran out of budget but just running over everything with a petrol tiller and scattering grass seed isn’t expensive.
It might have been time they ran out of, not money. That big reveal part of the programme was only filmed last month.
I liked it but the money bit never adds up. If I was that broke, that stressed and in that much debt, I would not have installed the most expensive marble kitchen in the world, or the brass bath in the bedroom, or industrial oak flooring.
I do very much like houses with courtyards though. My Grand Designs build would be a south facing steading type design with three distinct wings, a bedroom wing, living / kitchen wing and utility / garage wing. All connected by a banging kitchen garden and outdoor seating in the courtyard. Bliss.
I bet they end up using a bog and shower at the other end of the house
Worked on a mega bucks house just north of Regents Park, the ensuite was the other side of the house so they had a "night time WC" just off the master bedroom, so maybe they're just right on trend 🤔
The actual reservoir section of the house seemed to be an extremely poor use of space. If money was such an issue and the reservoir was the sentimental part, why not just restore/develop that? The guy himself said that the reservoir alone had more space than the house they were living in.
@franksinatra I think I’m with you on the courtyard. Becomes a very usable outside living space and kitchen garden.
I find all the house building and property modification tv shows a bit crap.
Starts with high hope.
The struggles in the build and artifical jeopardy
O dear we are over budget.
All well and we admire the superior architecture.
The houses all look like identikit structures from the book architects book of buildings.
The pompous presenter.
Lovely
I just can’t get my head around how an audiologist and skydiving instructor can fund a £1.2m build.
My wife's an audiologist so I've just messaged her to see if she knows Rosa, and get the dirt if she does. I'll also be demanding to know why we don't live in a £1.2mill house! (Must be because I can't sky-dive...)
@twodogs where on Gower is this? I haven't seen last night's episode yet, so is this next week's?
I find all the house building and property modification tv shows a bit crap.
Mrs_oab also watches the place in sunny places and off to the country type programmes looking to buy a place - most of them seem to be a desperate for 15 mins of fame with little intention of moving, plus unrealistic expectations and no experience of actually living where the properties are. Madness and I think 90% TV and 10% looking to move...
I love the fact that they borrowed money from all and sundry, so they could live in an aircraft hanger / hotel lobby.
Everyone else gave up holidays / new cars/ luxuries etc , so they could live like wannabe film stars.
It was ego / mind **** territory - I am assuming her full time job was "influencer" as I have no idea what their revenue stream was - other than selling sweets and sky diving.
The decor was premier division footballer / 1 million quid spend in Woolworths. And the marble just says all you need to know. All very Dubai - in Hereford
IMHO the marble was one of the worst bits it was truly ghastly. I would also have not had the concrete finish and saved a fortune in that, plasterboard and some walls clad to match the old building would be more my cup of tea.
@twodogs where on Gower is this? I haven’t seen last night’s episode yet
It's in last night's episode...Kevin went to visit it cos it's sort of buried. East end of Llanmadoc Hill, off the road between Kennexstone campsite and Llanmadoc.
In our house the sunny places programs are called unrealistic expe tations. They have to fill the air with crap when they could be inspiring adventure, nature, kindness and exploration.
I find all the house building and property modification tv shows a bit crap.
I suppose you could try not watching them, and not wasting your time commenting on a thread about one of them....just a thought.
I generally don't. Sorry if you are offended
Offended by what? I just don't understand why you bother to post to say "all these programs are crap" (tho if you don't watch them, how do you know?). Strange.
@twodogs where on Gower is this? I haven’t seen last night’s episode yet
It’s in last night’s episode…Kevin went to visit it cos it’s sort of buried. East end of Llanmadoc Hill, off the road between Kennexstone campsite and Llanmadoc.
Just watching it now, and yes, I know exactly where it is. I’ve suffered many times climbing up that gravel track to the hill fort, with plenty of time to browse at the posh house. 😂
Just watching it now, and yes, I know exactly where it is. I’ve suffered many times climbing up that gravel track to the hill fort, with plenty of time to browse at the posh house. 😂
Indeed... I used to just about be able to do it on my singlespeed....I'd die if i tried that now 😂
But have you ever seen an occupant?
No, never even a car on the property.
My wife doesn’t know Rosa, but does know a few people who know her. Nothing unkind to say about her at all. Sadly. 😁
No, never even a car on the property.
Weird innit
Hoping they weren't on a 2yr fix and need to remortgage currently/soon.
I normally only like maybe 2 of the builds per series and this wasn't one of them but it did tick a lot of GD bingo points. I've still no idea how they are servicing such an amount of debt with their jobs to the point my other half looked on Rightmove to see if they were already selling it (wouldn't be the first one).
I liked the house (apart from the doorless ensuite) but can't fathom how they raised that much money or how they're going to pay it back.
How much does a Skydiving Instructor make over time in United Kingdom? Skydiving Instructor professionals in United Kingdom have a wide total pay range, between £18,418 and £51,865 depending on experience, with an estimated total pay of £30,907 following the average career path of a Skydiving Instructor.
Curious, I was just having a conversation with my wife about their finances and guessed his income at around £30k. Hers would be somewhere between £30-80k depending on how much commission she makes. Maybe slightly more, but she’s probably at the high end.
On the basis that something wasn’t being disclosed, and they didn’t seem the sort of people who had families with lots of disposable, what other activities could persuade a mortgage lender to give you more money? There’s one obvious, glaring thing, and it’s very unfair of me to think it because it’s purely based on appearance. Does he have an Only Fans page? 🤔 😂
So assuming they are both the best in their fields, (govt says up to 50k for experienced audiologist) they could be in a family income of 90-100k a year, plus the chocolate business. £680k loan value at 2% over 30 years, is 2.5k a month, on 5k ish take home, plus chocolate. So far so good.
Goes up to 4k a month if rates are 6% though.
plus the chocolate business.
Putting together packets of pic’n’mix isn’t going to buy them a million pound house. That was lockdown pocket money. 😂
Could keep covering living expenses though?
Plus, they got past the banks affordability checks, so can’t be impossible for them. Hopefully they got a long fixed initial term
Early in the show, when they said that they had a £700k budget, didn’t they say they only had £200k to put in and the rest would be borrowed? Did I miss something later, when the costs went to over a million? They did suggest that Grandad had left some money, but £100s of £1000s? All very strange.
Grandad left them a £150k house
They borrowed somewhere around £850,000 then?
Maybe I'm old (53) but taking on that debt, FFS.
High maintenance both her and the house and the mortgage.
The whole water tank was a waste. Seemed to be two wrong houses mismatched together. They could have had a great house in the tank, stick the dining room wing on and probably 3bedrooms the high snug, decent kitchen etc. Nar money but massively egotistical, they mortgage must be nearly what they earn and that's a barn to heat.
And the architect needed a slap.
680 off the bank, 100k of their own savings, 150k from grandads house, the rest from ‘family & friends’ I think
Just watching on catchup.
Does he have an Only Fans page? 🤔 😂
that thought had passed my mind 😎
Grandad left them a £150k house
£150k for a large detached house ?
Surely it was worth a lot more than that ?
If that’s the going rate , I’m moving to the Wye Valley 😂
I wonder if they sold off any of the land he owned as well ?
Anyhoo, I’ve just realised that Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone fishing is a new series and not a repeat 🤦♀️ . That’s the next couple of hours sorted
High maintenance both her and the house and the mortgage
seems the type that hasn’t had the word no thrown in her direction a lot 😂
I liked the original part of the building but the new part felt too cramped and all corridor. If it had been me, I’d have just done the original bit up as a more modest build with a plan to extend in the future.
How much room do you need for three/four... and heat it on their salary.
OK, at the end now, but WTF... skydiving and drug selling ? your F35/Euro Fighter pilots cant afford this
Who the fark cleans these houses - it's hard enough working full time and getting in from a bike commute, then cooking and then cleaning a small house...
150k for a large detached house ?
Surely it was worth a lot more than that ?
I assumed that she wasn’t the only beneficiary from the sale of it.
Ive built a house. Everything non structural you do cheap as you can. Cut your cloth and so on. Easy. Marble doodahs and fancy lights are financial drains. Save up and buy with cash later on
Who the fark cleans these houses – it’s hard enough working full time and getting in from a bike commute, then cooking and then cleaning a small house…
The glib answer is a cleaner. When you're earning £100k+ (or less, as evidenced on here occasionally) you get someone in to clean for a few hours a week. Problem is, even for my house, a 3 bed terraced house, I reckon I'd need to employ a full time cleaner to actually make it look clean. For that house, you'd need a whole team, with a cherry picker and a gardener, etc. But yeah, plenty of people manage to pay for cleaners, gardeners, dog-walkers, etc. I agree with you though - after a week of my family living there, there'd be dirty clothes everywhere, cat food all over the kitchen, stuff, just stuff dumped on every surface.
Following the comments on here I was expecting to not like that house, but I thought it was lovely! I wouldn't have done the uber en-suite or marble, but the layout and quality looked spot on.
Less fussed about the people. Wondering how much of the budget was spent on creosote and teeth whitener. And the horse was never seen again either...
I'd have liked more info about tanking it, insulation and the pointing.
Only Fans page?
I think it is disgusting that anyone suggests such a thing.
I thought exactly the same when watching it.
🙂
Seriously though – who, in their right mind, goes asking everyone they know for money so they can build a house? In my life I have never, ever asked for a hand-out and I don't think I could live with myself if I had to do so – especially if it's just so I can have something spangly to show off.
Anyone earning enough from Only Fans for it to be significant would have been recognised by the gutter press by now I reckon.
TBH I don’t think they are that high up in the spending way beyond their means league of grand designers, plenty of folk have taken decades to not fully finish builds they can’t really afford, or have had to sell straight away. They’ve borrowed between what we can roughly work out to be 7-8x their income, some of which one assumes will be at very low interest as it’s mates rates, so similar to what someone on an average wage, buying an average price house, no?
Or, as a colleague suggested earlier, sky-diving partner was actually Bodhi from Point Break. 😀