Couple’s ‘miracle’ Grand Design renovation leaves Kevin McCloud speechless
The presenter said he couldn’t have pulled it off himself
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud was left speechless by an impressive build he dubbed a “miracle” after its owners finished it on time and under budget with no prior building experience.
The impressive build was featured on the 25th anniversary season of the show, which is currently airing on Channel 4, and saw viewers introduced to Zara and her partner Giuliano from Reading, who spent £135,000 on their dream one-acre plot of land to build a mansion in the Lincolnshire Wolds.
But McCloud, who has seen many a grand design go awry over the years, had his doubts about whether the couple could complete the build on time and within their £700,000 budget, as they were doing the majority of the work themselves.
He was, however, dramatically proven wrong when Zara, 31, a makeup artist and influencer, and Giuliano, 29, not only managed to create their large, modern redesign of 17th-century malthouse, but they did so two months ahead of schedule and a staggering £75,000 under budget – spending a total of £625,000.
Reacting to the home, which came complete with a statement glass portal, McCloud admitted that he could not have pulled it off himself and said the feat had “reshaped” his opinion of millennials.
He said: “It puts on quite a show. It’s all beautifully done and very tightly finished.
“That long shape of the malthouse, that’s really good… and in the middle of it is that great piece of theatre.”
The average UK house price was £282,000 in January 2024, which is likely why McCloud described the creation of a mansion with a relatively modest budget as a “miracle”.
The house came complete with a restaurant-sized kitchen and dining room, large, spacious bedrooms, as well as a 30-metre pergola to frame the glass portal at the centre of the property.
However, the couple were honest about the amount of work the project required and stressed that there were a few instances where their grand design very nearly went wrong.
A piece of steel, for example, was made to the wrong size and very nearly put the brakes on the whole project as it was part of the home’s £15,000 five-ton metal Corten centrepiece.
Giuliano said: “It’s probably been the toughest thing that I’ve done, that we’ve done. I think I went into construction delusion, thinking that each stage of the project would align nicely, but that certainly wasn’t the case.
“It really does suck up every moment of free time that you have. We had to give up every single weekend for the past 14 months.”
Grand Designs continues on Channel 4 on Wednesday at 9 pm.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments