Loved the Manor House......Didn't like the Cowshed....sorry, Potting Shed.

It was just incredibly weird!

I liked the two TV's idea. ...worth considering

I liked the fact it was him who had to have the headphones!!!

I was channel hopping so never fully understood what was going on - are the leaving the big house to move into that one?

quote:

I was channel hopping so never fully understood what was going on - are the leaving the big house to move into that one?

Yes, they were giving the manor house to their children and the new house was being built straddling a walled garden in the grounds.

Missed it: one telly, one husband, one football game on said telly.

Hooray for E4 repeats.

I would have liked to have known what the architect thought of the final version, after all the changes had been made!

On the website there is a 3D "flyover" of the original design (don't sit too close to the computer screen, you will get airsick!) and I think I agree with Kevin that the original would have looked lighter and less clunky.

But I really liked it - it was an ingenious idea and the owners were clearly delighted with it, which is really all that matters in the end.

I did like the idea of the spray-on plaster. There is a link from the website to the contractors for this, and a further link to the manufacturer's demonstration video. Worth a look.

I fell asleep for the last fifteen minutes so didn't see the finished version, but I did feel sorry that they had demolished part of what seemed like a lovely, historic wall to accomplish their design. Pity they couldn't have been able to build something inside the garden entirely. I wasn't keen on the design but I did warm to the couple, who seemed very nice even though they were so rich! (I know they bought the manor during a property slump, but not needing to sell it in order to build a new place makes them pretty well off, I reckon.) Looks like a lovely part of the world, I must say. Good to see a new episode as well after the last few revisits.

the finished house was terrible imho they ended uo with a bungalow with a glass wall not what i call a grand design. The potting shed area of the house looked like the interior of a travel lodge and the main living area was boring no "design" as such just normal open plan with 2 tv's and a red kitchen. The house they said inspired them was a work of art the foating roof, water reflections and chromed metal all adding to what was a "grand design".

The 'glass' bedroom didn't seem to have any curtains / blinds.
I know it was a private walled garden.........but surely you would need something with all that glass.

As for the 2 massive dogs .................they had a settee each!

quote:

Originally posted by katnip:
the finished house was terrible imho they ended uo with a bungalow with a glass wall not what i call a grand design. The potting shed area of the house looked like the interior of a travel lodge and the main living area was boring no "design" as such just normal open plan with 2 tv's and a red kitchen. The house they said inspired them was a work of art the foating roof, water reflections and chromed metal all adding to what was a "grand design".

That's exactly what I said! A Travelodge!!

Also did you see Kevins face when he mentioned the laminate worktop in the kitchen - he could hardly bring himself to touch it.

quote:

the finished house was terrible imho they ended uo with a bungalow with a glass wall not what i call a grand design.

I agree. I think Kevin McCloud was being kind in his summary and for once was not be totally honest, but who can blaim him for being kind. They were an inspirational couple full of energy and enthusiasm and were worthy of praise, but sadly not for the Grand Design, so God bless em.

I think the word pavillion was right. That beautiful garden space had me in mind of a bowling green or a cricket ground and could just see the lady of the house with all her mates preparing tea and sandwiches to be served on the decking. ;-)

quote:

Originally posted by queenstomper:
I think the word pavillion was right. That beautiful garden space had me in mind of a bowling green or a cricket ground and could just see the lady of the house with all her mates preparing tea and sandwiches to be served on the decking. ;-)

Pavillion queenstomper? There is no mention of a cricket pavillion on this thread

But I know where the word Pavillion was used to describe the potting shed!
Mel.

Hi.. ..


Just my thoughts on the build..

It may well have been a "Grand Design" to start with BUT they removed all the Grand features including the wall through the property.

OK so it may well have been a waste of space nearing 2 foot wide but, IMHO it was the design feature of having that wall inside showing the transition between the two halves.

All the changes made what was going to be a Grand design into just a boring self build retirement pad with a feature window..

Not forgetting the square tower addition to the wall which was a nice feature


Tom << not impressed with this one

quote:

Also did you see Kevins face when he mentioned the laminate worktop in the kitchen - he could hardly bring himself to touch it.

A good observation, and an amusing one

I think poor old Kevin was for once having to bite his lip. It just got worse and worse.
I'm sure Heath Robinson was the true inspiration.

The garden was lovely but would have been complemented far better by a cobb and wood structure that could have been innovative and full of interesting design rather than the most "design" being matching your sofa to the kitchen cupboards

I have to say I quite liked the house when it was completed - would be similar to my dream retirement property. A bit of a shame however that some of the fancy bits of architecture in the original plans got diluted in the execution of the build.

These MODERN builds can look nice but on a practicle level where do you put your newspapers magazines can of beer ect, there just not adabtable to real home life not mine anyway. All that glass I would feel as if I was on show, although I do dislike the same bland boxes that house builders are putting up across the entire country. As the couple seemed quite wealthy and the garden seemed large enough I would have Kept the thick wall and extended into the garden a bit and made the kids pay for it as they were getting that large manor house.

Like many others here, I watched this weeks GD tonight due to watching the other Barcelona success story last night!!!

You could make a analogy between the two infact, the football consisted of us starting out well,maintaining the pace but then getting it wrong big time and losing out at the end.

IMHO exactly the same thing happened with the house!!

This week GD seemed to focus on the personalities of the couple rather than the usual problems with the build but then that was what made the building what it was.

I think the initial vision the architect had got lost but it was still a great result and an interesting GD after two boring revisits.