GRAND Design hosted by Kevin McCloud called “the carcass” and cost the owner his marriage Hit the market with a whopping 10 million pounds.
The Chesil Cliff House and its annex known as The Eye in North Devon were the brainchild of Edward Short, and “rip apart his family.”
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Work began on the lighthouse on an episode of the Channel 4 show in 2010 although it was originally estimated to take 18 months to build.
The project plunged the family £4m into debt and put irreparable strain on his marriage to wife Hazel with Ed’s frustrated daughters once saying they doubted the lighthouse would ‘ever happen’.
Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud even called the property “a corpse” and it was like a seaside wreck.
The house features a four-story tower, five bedrooms, four reception rooms, an infinity-edge pool, sauna, and cellar – along with the adjacent three-bedroom The Eye studio.
Ed and his family were supposed to move into the property in the Down End once construction was complete, but the project spiraled out of control and became one of the show’s most popular episodes when Ed lost everything.
But now, real estate consultancy Knight Frank has announced the highly anticipated launch of the long-awaited property, which was due to be completed at the end of 2021, but Covid has put another delay on the already beleaguered project.
The estate agent wrote of the property: “The Chesil Cliff House sits on a three-acre site between the surfer’s paradise Saunton Sands backed by the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Braunton Burrows, and idyllic Croyde Bay, behind which lies the National Trust-owned Baggie Point.
When completed, Chesil Cliff House will be one of the most impressive waterfront homes on the North Devon Coast.
“Not only is the property highly design and build quality, but it also boasts a south facing location and easy access to the water with a private beach and beach.”
Edward commented, “I will always be proud to finish this. I owe it to my family for a real end result, but it’s time to move on.
“I will have accomplished what I planned to do, and I will never go out of plans, which is why I will always be proud.”
Christopher Bailey, President of National Waterfront, Knight Frank, commented: “Chesil Cliff House will be the most important coastal property to be brought to the open market in the West Country for many years.
“It is an icon in the truest sense of the word and there is nothing else to compare with it in the market right now.
“It certainly sits atop the national coastal waterfront market and I have no doubts that it will attract huge interest globally.”
Speaking of the hard build on Grand Designs, Ed told host Kevin McCloud, “I have to take it on the chin — maybe the vanity of ambition brought down the marriage. That’s the truth.”
He also revealed that he needs an additional £2 million to complete the project.
The lighthouse continued to sit idle for years before finally resuming work in 2020.
Ed’s story is one that stuck in Kevin’s mind, as he recently told Stuff: “That was a great story — things just escalated.
“A lot of people responded to it and thought we were (weaving) a moral story. But we didn’t start publishing a moral story. The building was supposed to be pretty crap.
“I really got to know the architect, and it was a great location with a great group of people. Everything fit right into place. But when it went in a spiral it went really badly.”
Last year, Grand Design viewers described Edward White’s seaside home as one of “the saddest episodes ever.”
They watched Edward and Hazel tell how they planned to build a £1.8 million pillow.
The couple hoped to turn the clifftop home into a gorgeous white Art Deco “lighthouse” with a glass-rimmed infinity pool, home cinema, sauna and steam room.
While Edward said it was a “little kid’s dream,” Hazel criticized it as a “nightmare” that pushed the couple deeper into debt.
The stresses of the building since 2011 and Edward’s debt of around £4 million have caused them to break up, and Edward’s grieving daughters say they doubt the lighthouse “will ever happen”.
The gray concrete house has now been criticized by locals as ‘ugly to the eye’ on the stunning coast, and Edward and Hazel estimate they need an additional £2m to finish the project.
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