Grand Designs UK: Ambitious lighthouse construction is a major failure that ruins a marriage

REVIEW: Toughest Watch Ever – This is the Great designs episode that left viewers in the UK in awe and dismay. To the extent that presenter Kevin McCloud felt the need to tell Stuff recently that was actually an amazing story, but “things just skyrocketed.”

“A lot of people reacted and thought we were (spinning) a moral story. But we did not set out to promote a moral story. The construction was supposed to be a beautiful madness. I already knew the architect, and it was a great place with a great group of people. Everything fell into place. But when it made a spiral, it went very wrong. “

So what happened to Ed and Hazel Short’s dream of a house in a lighthouse on top of the Devon cliffs?

Well, there’s a warning from McCloud right at the beginning of the show, and he’s talking about the role of a beacon: “If there’s just one message that screams, then it’s this: stay away or risk destruction.” And in fact, this becomes a warning.

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Ed Short has his heart set on living right on the edge of a cliff, and he and Hazel want to play with the 1950s house they bought next to some of the best beaches in England. Average house prices here are higher than in London. And the family loves it, everyone is behind him. We see them so excited to be on the beach. Which makes knowing what’s going on even more moving.

Ed, who works in the music industry part-time, plans to tear down the house and build this huge “lighthouse.” “Once you have a dream like that in your head, it just doesn’t budge,” he says. And therein lies the problem.

He’s planning a four-story rotunda tower, fully exposed to the elements, and a house with six bedrooms and an infinity pool.

But then there’s the erosion – the cliff is collapsing, so Ed is planning massive rock anchors, plus 100 tons of steel. Interestingly, they believe they can build it in 18 months. Professional consultants’ fees will be £ 250,000, and construction and land are estimated at £ 3.2 million. You are borrowing £ 1.8 million (NZ $ 3.54 million).

And, like a perfect storm (lots of those analogies in this episode), an economic recession is coming and banks are getting nervous. Indeed, two months later, the bank withdrew and the project was put on hold.

“We were literally so heartbroken,” says her daughter Lauren. And the young women have been trying to raise money by selling trunks. It is a very sad lesson for these young people, who had been carried away by sleep.

Two years later, he borrows funds from a hedge fund and begins building something else: a smaller house at the other end of the site, which he will then use to finance the construction of the lighthouse.

Another four years pass, and McCloud shows up and looks at the smallest house they are building (yet). There is news that Ed has taken out a large loan for the construction of the lighthouse (£ 2 million). McCloud is now getting very nervous about the whole thing, and Ed and Hazel don’t look too relaxed about it either.

The original house is torn down and the family moves into rental accommodation.

Five years after starting, there is a kind of platform. “Now we can see it, all my friends will believe me,” says one of the girls.

But everything is more difficult than planned: the rock, the excavation and facing the huge wind, which frequently stops the work. Time and budget explode, along with contingency, which disappears completely. And Ed says bluntly, “Scary is an adjective that doesn’t really sum it up if I’m honest,” he says. But it won’t compromise the design.

The tower takes shape gradually, not unlike some kind of water-cooled nuclear reactor, McCloud notes.

At the six-year mark, Hazel says, “In the worst case, we might have to sell everything.” Which will be devastating for the kids, not to mention their dad.

And then they need to design a very long bridge for the driveway. (What is the price of a bridge?) His loan is now over £ 3 million. This is a large-scale infrastructure, and it surely could have been predicted.

But wow, can you imagine being in the middle of a wild storm in that room at the top of the lighthouse? (“A child’s dream,” Ed says, but his wife thinks it might be a nightmare, turns out she was right).

Now it is imperative that they sell the first house, which they call the Eye. But they can’t sell it until the lighthouse is finished. They run out of money. The work stops.

We see Ed wandering through the snow, it couldn’t be more depressing for everyone. Ed still believes there is a solution while staying wet and cold at the abandoned site.

‘A DESOLATED HOUSING’

And then we have the “reveal”, another two years later, or “a suspense” as McCloud jokes in the car.

His first comment: “My word. It’s not meant to look like this, is it? These are just the bones of a house, a desolate half-finished corpse, not unlike an abandoned James Bond set. “

Ed smiles hi, but he’s upset. Says locals have complained that it is a “sore eye” (understatement). We are not surprised. But, the Eye house is at least finished and has the same view. However, it is a huge white elephant, because until the construction of the main lighthouse is completed, no one can live there full time. So you still can’t sell it. Catch 22, or more exactly Catch $ 7.87 million.

‘CATASTROPHIC DEBT’

Ed admits that he has run out of money; McCloud calls it a “catastrophic” debt of almost 4 million pounds. And just when you think the situation couldn’t be more bleak, it turns out it is: Ed and Hazel have split up, and Ed admits he put her through a “horrendous moment.”

Accept the blame: “My ambition (and) vanity has probably brought the marriage down.” It’s been so long, even her daughters have grown up and blown up the nest.

And Ed? He has his eye on more funds and is still waiting to finish. We hope so too. You need to get rid of that monkey, and the modern “wreck” does nothing for this part of the picturesque Devon coastline. It is insane that it is also a constant reminder of the sad outcome for his family.

NOTE: Just three weeks ago McCloud said Stuff that Ed Short has gone back to work on the house. But you are unlikely to keep it, your debt is too high. “We’ll probably go back and film some more, but it won’t be a story about overreach; it will be a story of tenacity. “

We would love to see that.

This was the finale of this series, but the new Grand Designs NZ series begins on Three, Monday, September 14 at 7:30 pm.