Kevin McCloud breaks silence on sale of 'saddest ever' Grand Designs house after 12 years

Grand Designs hostKevin McCloud has given his verdict on the sale of the homedubbed the 'saddest ever' to feature on the show. The presenter has been on hand to offer advice and support to people looking to build their very own homes.

He has fronted the Channel 4 show for years, having witnessed countless impressive builds and touching stories along the way. However, one home caught the attention of Kevin and viewers for the wrong reasons.

Edward Short set out to create his own seaside dream property but has became infamous as the 'saddest-ever' Grand Designsbuild that put him through an emotional and financial wringer. Chesil Cliff House saw him overrun the budget by £7million and crumbled his marriageafter 12 years of construction.

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Edward and his wife Hazel invested their life savings into a demolish-and-rebuild property endeavour, but they faced unrelenting challenges that turned their dream into a nightmare.

The once-ambitious project was ultimately re-listed at a significantly reduced price a long 13 years after the Grand Designs team first documented their journey. Just last month,it was revealed that the property had finally sold.

It was listed for £10million in 2022, and two years later it was relisted by debt collectors with the price slashed down to £5.25million. Now, Kevin has spoken out on the house for the first time since the long-awaited sale.

He said: “I know that Ed will have a lot of mixed emotions about it, he’s been wanting to sell the project for so long – he’s immensely attached to the building, it was a passion project for him, one that he didn’t intend to sell initially.

“Of course, over the years he’s come to the understanding that it had to be sold. Not least because it allows him, Hazel and their two girls to live their lives again."

Kevin added: "It’s been a huge part of his life, and a huge part of our life – making the programme and revisiting him. I’ve got to know Ed very well, and I know that he’ll have mixed feelings. His relationship with that place is complex.

“I just pray that it brings all the resolution and all the opportunity to move on that he was hoping, and I know that it will be a relief for him and for Hazel, and that it will refresh a degree of sadness as well, because its occupied so much of their lives, and changed their lives in so many ways”.

Speaking of the sale, Edward previously said: "It is definitely the closure of a long chapter of my life – there is no doubt about that. I mentally moved on from the property a while ago as the writing was on the wall.

"I am relieved it is sold; it gives me closure. I put everything I could as a person to make it work, but it didn’t. It is not the end of the world, but it was a financial failure."

Kevin was speaking ahead of Grand Designs Live at NEC Birmingham, the UK’s premier home and design exhibition, taking place from 3-5 October

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