PROPERTY / STYLE BIBLE
GRAND DESIGNS Nigel Lewis asks, whatever happened to London’s Grand Designs?
A
fter 16 years on our screens Channel 4’s Grand Designs TV show is now a national institution. And happily it’s still steered with wit and intelligence by Kevin McCloud through the minefield of documenting troublesome self-build projects. What few will remember is that it all started in London in 1999 at a house on Stock Orchard Street in Islington. Episode 1, Series 1 followed a couple building a ‘house of straw’ which then was still an almost laughable building material and technique. Since then a further 14 London houses have been given the McCloud treatment. Here we find out what happened to five of the more recent ones after the cameras left. ◆
Broom and interior designer Deborah Sheridan-Smith THE BUILD: The couple paid £405,000 for a tiny, triangle plot in between two streets of Victorian houses, and then sunk down to build a £1 million ‘Hollywood-style’ mini mansion. Main problem was gaining permission from 14 neighbours to do the digging. NOW: The couple put the property on the market late last year for nearly £4m but it isn’t clear whether they found a buyer or not. ◆
The Yard, East Dulwich
THEY PAID £405,000 FOR A TINY PLOT AND THEN SUNK DOWN TO BUILD A £1M ‘HOLLYWOOD-STYLE’ MINI MANSION
THE YARD
¢ East Dulwich WHEN: 2014 WHO: TV prop buyer Tracy Fox and film set artist husband Steve. THE BUILD: The couple had a Grafton Crescent, Camden
track record before attempting this project – they had done up a Victorian semi nearby for a healthy profit of around £500,000 and bought an old dairy working yard to build a very modern house including two studios, three bedrooms and walkway above the main living areas. The poly carbonate sheeting used in its construction prompted both praise but initially raised eyebrows from McCloud. NOW: The couple still live and work there with their three children. ◆
RUSSELL GARDEN MEWS
¢ Brook Green WHEN: 2012 WHO: Claire Farrow and architect Ian Hogarth THE BUILD: On 2010 the couple sold their Earls Court flat and bought a £410,000 plot at the bottom of an upmarket mews in Brook Green and spent another £650,000 on building a four bedroom house. Apart from the pain of gaining planning permission for modernist pile, the couple faced the challenges of building under the water table. The house became famous for its basement nightclub dancefloor. NOW: They still live there. ◆
GRAFTON CRESCENT
¢ Camden WHEN: 2013 WHO: Taxi firm founder Jonathan
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Bromley, 2011 – Paul and Penny Denby – Syvan Glade, Keston Park. Contemporary mansion that nearly ran out of funds
DECEMBER 2015
25/11/2015 15:00