A lighthouse-inspired home on the 'saddest ever' Grand Designs TV show that cost the owner his marriage is nearing completion - and has gone on the market for £10m.
Edward Short, 52, said he was finally ready to sell the extraordinary Chesil Cliff House after spending a decade on the ambitious project. It featured on Channel 4's Grand Designs and was described as the "saddest episode ever" by many who watched it after airing in October 2019.
The episode followed Edward and his family as misfortune beset the project leaving the house in Croyde, Devon, unfinished and with the family plunged into millions of pounds worth of debt. The show also revealed that the process had taken a strain on Edward's personal life, resulting in his separating from his wife Hazel.
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Despite all the problems, Edward remained adamant he would finish. But his dream of an idyllic existence in the stunning new cliff-top home in one of Devon's most picturesque coastal locations was dashed and he admitted earlier this year he would be forced to sell it.
And property consultancy Knight Frank has now announced the launch of the sale of the main house and its annexe known as The Eye. It said the home was due for completion at the end of 2021 and will launch to the open market with a guide price of £10 million at the end of this year.
Edward said the time was right to move on. He added: "I’ll always be proud to have finished this. I owe it to my family to have a real end result, but the time has come to move on. I will have achieved what I set out to do, never deviating from the plans, and for that I’ll always be proud."
The house is positioned on a three-acre site between surfers’ paradise Saunton Sands backed by the impressive UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Braunton Burrows, and the idyllic cove of Croyde. The house has been anchored into the bed rock of the cliff, painstakingly engineered to a level that leaves no possibility for erosional hazard.
The agents described the house as one of the most impressive waterfront homes around and said they expected "global interest" in the sale. It will comprise of five bedrooms and bathrooms, four reception rooms, a sauna and a cellar. The property will also include the three-bedroom studio annexe known as The Eye and double garage.
Although Chesil Cliff House won’t launch to the open market until later this year, interested parties can now register their interest through Knight Frank. Edward, a dad-of-two, said he had no option but to sell it to cover the large amount of money he had to borrow and said the total costs were set to reach £6m.
He added: "These past ten years have been a marathon slog - and I have got used to being a millionaire in debt. I've accepted the only way forward is to finish and sell it."
Edward has previously apologised to locals who he said were fed up of seeing the unfinished grey eyesore on the point, but he also asked them to "stick with it". He had told them: "I know it's a mess, and I have to fix that - but when it is finished it will be amazing. Judge it when it's finished.
"I had no idea it would end up costing so much but I've accepted now that I'm never going to be able to live in it because I have money I need to pay back. It was my overconfidence and arrogance that got me here in the first place so I'm doing what I need to do. Even though I'll be selling it, I'm still finding it so exciting to see this concrete skeleton finally coming together into a beautiful building."
Christopher Bailey, Head of Waterfront at Knight Frank, said they expected significant interest in the home. He added: "It is iconic in the true meaning of the word and there is nothing else to compare it to on the market right now. It certainly sits at the very top of the national coastal waterfront market and I have no doubt it will attract keen interest globally."
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