by Here are some of the biggest mistakes people make on Grand Designs, according to host Kevin McCloud.
The Channel 4 show returns to the small screen on Wednesday for a special 25th anniversary episode and a brand new series. It’s a show that’s as popular with viewers now as it was when it first started, with viewers at home getting invested in each of the projects.
Over the years, people on the show have faced a number of obstacles along the way as they build their homes and Grand Designs has had some very memorable journeys.
We see McCloud taking part in the projects and trying to give some much needed advice to people who are building their dream homes on camera. Some of the host’s spirit also comes through on the editing floor.
“I do a lot of that on camera,” he previously told Yahoo in an interview in December. “But some of it just makes the cut because I don’t feel like I’m worrying. Off camera, I’m really fighting… Or I’ll tell people that what they’re doing isn’t happy in really par and that they should really talk to another firm or just point them towards a spreadsheet or a provider or some help because people need it.”
So what are some of the biggest mistakes people make on Grand Designs?
Read more
Grand Designs’ most notable projects
What we know about the Grand Designs 25th anniversary series
Don’t do it
McCloud previously joked that people shouldn’t take on huge projects to build their ideal homes, hinting at some of the disasters that befall some of the ambitious on the Channel 4 programme. When asked what are the biggest mistakes, he previously joked: “The biggest piece of negative advice I can possibly give to anyone is don’t do it.”
Seriously, disasters happen before McCloud’s eyes on Grand Designs – scary people watching from the comfort of their own homes. The most notable example is the lighthouse known as the “saddest” Grand Designs in the entire 25-year series.
It was a great vision but Edward Short lost his marriage and ran into financial problems when he refused to give up on his dream of building a lighthouse on top of a dramatic cliff on the North Devon coast. After all of the heartache and 11 years, it is finished and on the market waiting for a buyer’s bag but it is always courts of interest.
McCloud told House Beautiful in May: “He’s got a few celebrities and I think he’s had a comedian or two, because it’s quite an expensive house, so for people who are interested in it, they have to make enough money, and that includes actors and performers and singers.
“The last time I met Ed it was kind of close to a deal, so I know all about it. It’s a great story. A story of trash and overreach and destruction really, of things, of personal life, turned into kind of a story of redemption and growth, so it was a great thing.
Hope, the host said, always encouraged people – even when they faced the greatest hardships. “You can’t show people the future, you can only warn them,” he previously told Yahoo. “Even in the worst of situations, Edward Short – who borrowed millions to finish his lighthouse in Devon which he is still trying to sell – even at his worst moment, he was still full of hope and that the most amazing thing to discover that energy. Humans have… I’m sorry, they become superhuman.”
Houses that are too big
It’s no big secret to Grand Designs fans that McCloud cautions people against getting too ambitious and building too big a house. He previously told Yahoo: “I often tell people you could make this house two-thirds the size and you wouldn’t notice the house shrinking overnight it would be two-thirds of what it is, you wouldn’t even notice . “
The presenter has good reasoning for this. He explained: “I think that’s a terrible waste of resources and time and money and everything. I think we’re all guilty of trying to do too much. We buy too much food. We’re over the plan. to achieve, I think that is a difficulty.
The TV host also called him the “biggest bugbear” in a new interview. He also recently told the Radio Times: “My biggest problem is that things are too big. Most houses could shrink by a third overnight, and the occupants would never notice.”
Too many toilets
Another sticking point when it comes to the Grand Design buildings for McCloud is a house with more toilets than people living in the house. He contributed to the Radio Times. “Number two? Houses with more toilets than physical occupants. Why do people judge the status of a house by how many toilets you can offer your guests? It’s absurd.”
