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Wales Online
Wales Online
Lifestyle
Stephanie Colderick

Grand Designs viewers think £1.4m home looks like an 'ugly German supermarket'

The Channel 4 property programme Grand Designs can create some very impressive builds, however, sometimes viewers are left disappointed. Many didn't think that the 21st-century longhouse featured in the episode on Wednesday, September 28 was an attractive build.

Former medical technology CEO turned farmer Mike and his shepherdess wife Sarah had planned to create a 21st-century longhouse in Derbyshire for their whole family. The house is intended for them, their two grown-up daughters, and their elderly parents.

Mike and Sarah spent £250,000 on the 18 acres of farmland and told the host of Grand Designs, Kevin McCloud, they had a budget of £945,000. During the build the pair revealed they went more than £275,000 over budget.

READ MORE: Homes Under The Hammer couple spend five years and blow budget on renovation that's still not finished

Despiute the massive amount of money poured into the project, viewers were not impressed with the end result, deeming it "horrific" and "ugly", as The Sun reported. Many took to Twitter to air their disappointment at the build.

Mike and Sarah went massively overbudget (Channel 4)

One said: "New Amazon warehouse put up in the countryside," as a second chimed in: "There’s a German supermarket vibe about it." A third added: "That truly is horrid."

Another said: "Surely someone told these Grand Designs people their house looks like a primary school or a conference centre? Yuck." and: "It's an absolute monstrosity, I have seen better looking supermarkets,"

In 2022 it was revealed that a Welsh home in Pembrokeshire was the most over-budget Grand Designs build ever. The Low Impact House featured in Season 17 of the show and had an original budget of just £500. However, it ended up costing its owners 5,300% more than the initial estimated budget, coming out at £27k. Many – including the show’s host Kevin McCloud – argued that it was a very unrealistic house-building budget, to begin with.

The build began in 2016 and was going well until 2018 when on New Year's Day disaster struck. A fire broke out and the home was damaged beyond repair.

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