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If there is one thing that defines
a Grand Designs self-builder,

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it is that they are prepared
to move to the margins of society,

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to leave the comfort of solid ground

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and to leap into the unknown.

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Now, 25 years ago,
in our very first episode,

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Tim and Jules did just that.

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They were the first to step up
to the plate.

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In 1998, Tim and Jules
began building a home

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on a rare piece of land overlooking
the cliffs of East Sussex.

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So what's the deadline?

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It's the bump line,
it's about here.

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There were not only labour deadlines
but labour shortages.

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A little bit disappointing.

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It's not what I'd planned.

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Time was running out.

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There's still hope,
there's still hope.

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There's tonight
and there may be tomorrow.

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Things got messy,
and the house was barely finished.

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I've had about four hours' sleep.

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I'm just delirious now.

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Oh!

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Shit.

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Now, finally, after 25 years,
I've come back.

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Over the last quarter century,

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Grand Designs has trodden some
familiar territory.

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People falling out
with their architects,

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budget calamities, babies.

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Tim and Jules faced all of these,
and more,

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and yet they managed
to build their house in six months.

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That's remarkable.

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What's even more remarkable is I've
heard they're still living here,

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which makes a revisit
something of a true test of time.

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I mean, is the house still looking
after them well?

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Has it survived the
seaside location

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and the fierce weather here?

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Has it coped with their
burgeoning family?

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So I've come back to Newhaven
to revisit that very first episode.

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But before that,
here's Tim and Jules' story.

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Hello, and welcome to Grand Designs

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and this week we're in Newhaven,
in East Sussex -

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above the sea on the cliffs,
looking out.

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It's the most wonderful location.

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And we're here to meet
a couple who've got

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to build their house
in double quick time.

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Tim Cox owns a hang-gliding
and paragliding school.

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While he gives lessons, his partner
Julia Brock runs the office.

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You need to be over
16 for hang-gliding.

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They'd had their
hearts set on

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building their own home since
they found this site

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on the cliffs above Newhaven
about a year ago.

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They both have families from
previous relationships.

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Tim has two daughters,
Georgia and Jessica,

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and Jules has two daughters,
Ella and Kate.

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So their new house will represent

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something of a new beginning
for them.

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Tim's old family home was this
beautiful timber framed cottage,

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the sale of which left him
with £30,000 equity

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to help finance the new build.

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Jules owns a three-bedroom
terraced house

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in the heart of Newhaven, where
the family is going to be crammed

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for the duration of the build,

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which has to complete within
three months.

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So what's the deadline?
It's the bump line.

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It's the bump line,
it's about here.

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When's it due?
June, early June.

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So, I mean, surely though,
if you have the baby,

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it doesn't really matter
where you're coming back home to

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does it, afterwards?

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It's being born at home,
homebirth.

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It's going to be born...?!
Yes, here.

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It's going to be born here.
This is home. This will be home.

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We can mark the spot for you,
if you like.

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It's going to be born in
the dumper, probably.

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So what's this down here?

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Ah, this is where
the Aga's going to be.

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You've got it all mapped out.
Well, we hope so.

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It's going to go in here with
a big chimney stack. Right.

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And all this is where the
foundations are going to be dug out.

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And you're going...?
How many kids have you got?

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Well, we've got four daughters
and one more coming, obviously.

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And so they've all got
to be accommodated here so.

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Oh, wow.

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So given this amazing site what,
what provision are you making

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in terms of the view?

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You know, what are you building into
the design?

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Well, there's some big open
aspect windows

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and then there's
going to be decking. Amazing.

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New Zealand type decking where
you've got some on the bottom

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and then maybe some
on the first floor to...

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I think that's wonderful.
..wander out there.

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Yeah, really take advantage
of it. Yeah.

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The heart of the house is
the large open plan kitchen

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and living area,
dominated by two fireplaces.

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Upstairs, there are two bedrooms
for the girls,

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who only live there part
of the time,

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and a big bedroom for
Tim, Jules and the new baby.

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On the outside, Tim wants the
chimneys and the plinth wall

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to be of reclaimed brick,

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but most of the structure
will be clad in cedar,

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like a New England house,

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but with Tim's New Zealand decking
surrounding it.

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This is a somewhat
international design.

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How much is this house
going to cost to build?

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Well, the plot cost 86
and the house is going to cost

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around about 60/70,
I think, thousand.

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Right, and that includes decoration?
No.

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Furniture? No.

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Garden? No, not quite.

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Decking?

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Decking not quite, but...

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Roof? Yes, roof. Roof.

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It'll include the roof,
electrics and plumbing,

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but basically,
it's just going to be the shell.

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What happens
if this is not ready?

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I mean, the baby comes,
you know, that...

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We know that's going to happen.

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What happens if the house is not
ready,

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is that going to matter to
you?

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Oh, it does to me,
but to you?

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If it's finished in time,

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it would be wonderful

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and if it isn't, then it's not as
if we don't have anywhere to live.

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It would be quite possible for
the baby to be born here,

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but I...

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Tim has his heart set
on having the house finished

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and there isn't any reason at this
stage why that shouldn't be so.

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The first law of building your
own house is don't be optimistic.

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It's the first day of work on site
and there's already a problem.

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The building inspector's making us
go down another half a metre

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into the clay.

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And so you've got foundations deep
enough to put a sky scraper now.

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And there's maybe signs of roots
in there as well,

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and so they may have
to put some sort of boarding

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to stop any root invasion in
the foundation...

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..which could all cost about another
8,000 quid, they tell me.

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But I'm hoping that's not
going to be the case.

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However, all the work they've
done this morning

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in the middle layers will be redone,
so bit of a blow.

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The next thing we have to decide

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is what to do with this huge
mountain of clay

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that's appearing and maybe
it has a resale value.

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There are some amazing big lumps
of clay.

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But I'm just a bit stumped as
to exactly what we can do with it,

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how best to incorporate it into our
garden landscape.

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Oh, hell!

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Digging deeper foundations means
that a total of 200 tonnes of soil

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will have to be removed,
and all Tim and Jules can do

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is brace themselves for
the extra cost this will involve,

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a frightening prospect
when your job is running

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a hang-gliding school
that's totally dependent on

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the great British weather.
THUNDER ROARS

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Tim needs all the flying days he can
get.

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No flying means no money.

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Rain.

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And this is cu nim.

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A big cumulonimbus cloud,
thunderhead.

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Very dangerous, dodgy conditions
to fly in.

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I'm going to leave my glider in
the car.

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You can see the students down here,

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they've walked up bravely

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but now they're going to have
to walk back down again.

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It's always better to pack
the equipment away

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and to fly another day
than to take any risks

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with anyone hurting themselves
because of the gusty conditions.

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But that's...
That's flying for you.

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Getting planning permission for
a prime coastal site

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is pretty well impossible,

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but Tim and Jules managed to find
a derelict house

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that gave them a great location
with panoramic sea views.

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Of course, Tim and Jules' house
isn't wonderful architecture,

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it's a modest design,

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but it should go up quickly

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because they bought
a package deal from a Bristol firm,

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Unique Homes.

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John Hardy is the architect
and owner of the company.

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He drew up the plans

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and he's also going to organise
construction of the house,

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all for a fixed price.

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It's a bit like buying
a fitted kitchen,

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the parts are all prefabricated,

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you choose the model you like,

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and they bolt it together
to fit your needs.

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We were only commissioned to do
the planning

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and the building regulation approval

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and then it came on that
during the process of planning,

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that eight week period,

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they suddenly realised that perhaps
really we should take it on

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and look after more
of the work for them.

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So now you're project managing
the whole build?

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We're actually doing the design
and build service for them.

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From start to finish?

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Well, all but the plumbing
and the electrics.

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We do all the external cladding,

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the foundations, the timber frame

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and we leave them with
a watertight package.

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Now what about timing?

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Because Tim and Jules
are having a baby

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and they want to be in before
the baby comes,

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so is that going to happen?

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Well, there's no better deadline
than a baby arriving, is there?!

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Let's face it,
at the end of the day.

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I mean, providing everything
turns up

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and all the specifications that
they've chosen,

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00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:02,920
all the materials are in stock

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and that's suitable
for what they want,

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00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,120
I don't see a problem at all
at this stage.

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00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:11,400
After three weeks
and at an extra cost of £4,000

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the foundations have finally been
filled with concrete

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and a base formed on which
the house can be built.

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Incredibly,
the whole house arrives on

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the back of one lorry,
ready to assemble.

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00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,240
First, a wooden frame called
the ring beam is laid on top

213
00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,920
of the concrete for
the wall panels to be nailed onto.

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00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:31,960
These panels have been made
in the factory,

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with windows and doorways already
built in.

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It's the ultimate in
flat-pack assembly,

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00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:42,040
and all looks rather flimsy,

218
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but each wall will support the next

219
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and once it's braced with
joists and roof trusses,

220
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the structure will be as strong
as any brick-built house.

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00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:52,600
Having said that,

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once built you can't go knocking
through walls later,

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they're all part of the structure.

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And look at this.
Oh, and the house in reality.

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00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:06,160
Amazing. This is a house happening,
look at this. Fantastic.

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00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,520
That is so fast.
You could give birth tomorrow.

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00:11:09,560 --> 00:11:11,720
This is plans no longer.

228
00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,840
This is a front door and windows
and...

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00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,280
Oh, it's really, really exciting.

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00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,640
One of the most dramatic days
of my life,

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apart from the births of children,
I suppose.

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00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:25,880
It's the birth of a house.
It's the birth of a house.

233
00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,120
What time did all this stuff arrive
this morning?

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00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:29,840
9.30 the lorry came along.
9.30.

235
00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:31,360
It's now 12 o'clock.

236
00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:33,160
It's two and a half hours,
you've got a house.

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Yeah, it's going up quick now
isn't it?

238
00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:36,680
These guys seem
to really know their stuff.

239
00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:38,400
Yeah, I want to be inside now.

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00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:40,000
Yeah, I would like
to get inside as well,

241
00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:42,640
I want to see how big
the kitchen is!

242
00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:49,360
Just three days after the house
arrived

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00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:51,520
on the back of a lorry, it's up.

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00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:58,360
It's insulated and weather proofed
inside and out.

245
00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:02,720
Hang on, mate.
I seem to have got it the wrong way.

246
00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,240
This team of builders is moving on.

247
00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:12,400
A crew like this will put up
between 70 and 90 basic shells

248
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,120
a year, leaving local builders
to finish off.

249
00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:16,600
HORN BEEPS

250
00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,760
With nine weeks to go
until the baby's born,

251
00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:23,400
Tim and Jules are over budget
by £4,000.

252
00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:28,360
However, they're on schedule,
but building is never that simple.

253
00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,840
There's still a long way to go
before any baby will be born here.

254
00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:46,120
Tim and Jules have opted
for a modest kit house

255
00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:48,000
because of its remarkable speed.

256
00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,920
And as if to prove the point,
the project in Newhaven

257
00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:52,840
is progressing very well.

258
00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:57,600
The roof's on and there's still
two months to go before the birth.

259
00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,280
Well, it's an extremely exciting
time because what,

260
00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:03,520
we're a month into the project
and already we've got a house.

261
00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:06,640
We've got walls, we've got a roof,
it's even waterproof,

262
00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:08,320
but it's also an exciting time

263
00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:10,080
because now we've got
a building that we can look at

264
00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:12,320
and we can start asking
the more serious questions.

265
00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:15,280
And I think particularly what
Tim and Jules are going to ask is

266
00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:16,920
does the design work?

267
00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,560
Is it really what they hoped
and planned for?

268
00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:22,400
It's not what I'd planned.

269
00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,160
What had you planned?
What's different?

270
00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:26,760
I had these very definite ideas

271
00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:28,360
and I'm having to be flexible.

272
00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:30,280
It's hard for me to be flexible.

273
00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:34,160
What I want to know is what were the
ideas that you cherished so much

274
00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:35,560
that you're not seeing?

275
00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,680
It's one of my main
priorities still, the windows,

276
00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:41,800
and until they're in and you can
see through them as opposed

277
00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,120
to this blue plastic that we have at
the moment, I'm not...

278
00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:47,840
I'm still not sure whether
they're going to work or not.

279
00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:50,240
They're very modern,
they're very big.

280
00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:52,320
I know that you considered
all kinds of materials

281
00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,120
for the doors and windows
but ultimately you've fallen back on

282
00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:56,720
the idea of using UPVC,

283
00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:59,360
which is not what I suppose
everybody would use, perhaps,

284
00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,320
in their wildest
romantic dreams.

285
00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,480
No, given a longer time to plan it

286
00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:09,720
we would have got oak frames in
and paid the extra.

287
00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,640
But we're running to a schedule now

288
00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:14,720
and we can't get them made them
in time.

289
00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,480
And also, we've kind of ran out of
money.

290
00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:22,480
Again, the tiles are not as
I'd imagined them to be.

291
00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:24,520
I was under the impression
they were much smaller

292
00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:28,200
and much more clay tiles and flat.
I mean, these are black.

293
00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:30,280
And these are, you know...
Black concrete.

294
00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:32,360
Industrial monoliths.

295
00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:34,320
So did you see...?
Did you not see a sample?

296
00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:36,400
Weren't you given a sample... No.
..before they were put up?

297
00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:38,280
We didn't ask.

298
00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,920
I go through life doing this kind
of thing, you know,

299
00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:45,520
and every time I do,
I always put together samples

300
00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:47,000
of the materials
I'm going to be using,

301
00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:48,440
because I don't know what it's
going to look like.

302
00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:49,640
And here are you guys saying,

303
00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:51,080
"Oh, yeah, we think it's
going to be great.

304
00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:52,720
"We've got... In our heads,
it's all going to look...

305
00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:53,960
"You know, that's going to
be perfect."

306
00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,880
But in fact, I mean,
I'm not at all sure that it is.

307
00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,920
Well, I'm quite happy with
the way things are turning out.

308
00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:03,800
I'm intrinsically optimistic.

309
00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:05,600
Pathologically, I think.
Pathologically optimistic.

310
00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:07,000
KEVIN LAUGHS

311
00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:09,200
But you have to with
a job like mine.

312
00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,560
You know, have to hope people
are going to survive

313
00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:13,720
after leaping off the cliff.

314
00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:16,320
And you have to hope that this house
is going to look all right

315
00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:17,880
when it's finished.

316
00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:22,320
I don't share Tim's optimism.

317
00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:25,800
So far, his build has been
compromised by a tight schedule,

318
00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:30,000
by money, and by a rather woolly
approach to detail and planning.

319
00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:32,640
Planning that could have avoided
the next problem.

320
00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:38,000
See this? Yeah.

321
00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,640
In here... Eugh.
..is the septic tank.

322
00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:46,680
It is, isn't it?
It's very rusty and dirty.

323
00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,000
It's defunct, I'm afraid,
and in here is all the decking.

324
00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,280
What?! I can't afford to do both.

325
00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,760
I've got to revamp this
or make a new one. You're joking.

326
00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:58,040
And the cost of
the decking is going to pay for

327
00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:00,280
a new sewage system,
I'm afraid to say.

328
00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,880
That's really sad.
It is sad, but there you are.

329
00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:08,280
This just goes to show that when
building your own house

330
00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:09,920
you cannot plan enough.

331
00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:13,400
Tim just didn't realise that his
septic tank was unusable.

332
00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:17,360
A new tank is going to cost £4,000.

333
00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:19,320
Along with the extra foundations,

334
00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,600
this is going to take them 8,000
over budget.

335
00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:25,960
They can claw four grand back
by doing without

336
00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:27,440
the decking they had planned,

337
00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,360
but it's going to leave them
with no margin for any overspend.

338
00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:33,320
So with money problems
getting worse,

339
00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:34,680
a house half built,

340
00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:37,920
Jules less than a month away
from giving birth,

341
00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:42,320
Tim leaves it all behind
and goes hang-gliding.

342
00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:44,960
I think it's obviously
a good opportunity

343
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,040
to get away from it all for a bit,

344
00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:49,120
forget about plumbers
and electricians

345
00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,760
and underfloor heating and...

346
00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:54,720
And to do what I really enjoy,
which is flying.

347
00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,800
As a hang glider pilot,
it's a fairly individual thing,

348
00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,000
it's you who decides whether you
take off or land

349
00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:04,240
and it's always you up
against the elements.

350
00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:05,840
You're making the decision making,

351
00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:09,480
so I guess to that extent
building your own house

352
00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,120
is kind of similar
in that you're in charge of

353
00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,320
the project from its beginning
to the end.

354
00:17:15,360 --> 00:17:18,640
And that's pretty satisfying.

355
00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:21,680
Back on site,
I'm not sure that Jules,

356
00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,000
now eight months pregnant,
shares that enthusiasm

357
00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:25,800
about building their own home.

358
00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:30,640
I'm feeling very pregnant and
feeling very fat and quite useless.

359
00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,600
The baby is due to be born
in three weeks' time.

360
00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:36,640
There's an awful lot to do in
the house.

361
00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:38,920
It's just beginning to be
a little bit disappointing

362
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,640
quite how slowly it's going.

363
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,040
On Tim's return,
the new septic tank is going in,

364
00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,520
a solution there,
but he's returned to more problems.

365
00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:52,400
The windows have been delivered,
but they don't all fit.

366
00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:53,720
Malcom, his builder,

367
00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,600
is having to work overtime
trying to make them work.

368
00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:59,520
Macolm had said that he'd hoped
to be done today,

369
00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:01,880
having put all the windows in,

370
00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:04,760
but constantly having
to shave bits off the frame

371
00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:07,960
and finding that two or three don't
fit at all

372
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,120
means that's it taken him longer

373
00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,640
and that's put the glazing guy
back a bit

374
00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:14,440
because there's a separate guy

375
00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:16,800
who comes to put the glazing in the
windows.

376
00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:18,600
And...it goes on.

377
00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,160
The reclaimed bricks arrive
for the plinth walls

378
00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:27,360
and the chimneys,
but even this doesn't go smoothly.

379
00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:29,480
One palette load collapses,

380
00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:33,480
smashing 300 bricks,
costing 70p each,

381
00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,000
and there aren't any brickies
to lay the good ones either.

382
00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:37,920
Roger, bricklayer,
when's he starting?

383
00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:40,160
Is it the same man, Phil?

384
00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:44,200
By now, the relationship
with Unique Homes is under strain.

385
00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:46,640
The real problem is that they're
based in Bristol

386
00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:50,240
and are finding it hard to source
and manage a local work force.

387
00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,120
A whole week goes by without
a single workman showing up

388
00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:56,440
and it's up to Tim to fix it.

389
00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:58,640
TIM GROANS

390
00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:00,920
God.

391
00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:04,440
It seems to me that
I've found all the bloody people

392
00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:08,480
to build this house.
TIM GROANS

393
00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:10,960
At this point,
Tim and Jules have enough

394
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,640
to think about without worrying
about the setting of the house.

395
00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:17,520
They have no plans for a garden
and not enough money

396
00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:19,200
for the decking they wanted,

397
00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,480
so the house is going to take years
to settle into its surroundings.

398
00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,200
That is going to have
to be my job on the build,

399
00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:26,840
to help a New England design

400
00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:28,960
make sense on the Sussex coast,

401
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,400
without adding to Tim and Jules'
growing financial problems.

402
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:34,560
They've already got too much
on their mind,

403
00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:36,720
what with a project
with no builders.

404
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:42,360
The workers eventually do turn up.

405
00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:44,720
They've got a lot
of catching up to do

406
00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,880
and it starts with the brick wall.

407
00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:49,680
Tim's taken advantage of the delay

408
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:51,520
and has decided to put
a doorway where

409
00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:53,720
the second chimney was meant to go.

410
00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,720
The brick plinth is built up
around the timber frame.

411
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:01,880
It's not a structural wall

412
00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:06,160
and I personally think it doesn't
add much to the building.

413
00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,720
Inside, the UPVC windows
are being finished off,

414
00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,920
meaning that the rooms can be
plaster boarded.

415
00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:22,560
At last,
the cedar cladding is going on.

416
00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:24,400
It'll complete the exterior,

417
00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,920
but will the house be ready
in time?

418
00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:29,480
How are you and the baby?

419
00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,840
We're very well, thank you.
It's due tomorrow.

420
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,640
Ah, ready to go!
Tomorrow, tomorrow.

421
00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,000
So it's not going to be born here?

422
00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:38,920
There's still hope,
there's still hope.

423
00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:41,080
There's tonight
and there may be tomorrow.

424
00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:43,840
I seem to remember, Tim,
there was a commitment

425
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,400
that the baby will be born
in this house.

426
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:49,120
You know, there was no doubt at all.

427
00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:51,520
That's plan A, yeah.

428
00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:53,680
I don't remember hearing about
plan B.

429
00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,360
Plan B is now in action at this
very moment,

430
00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,720
to move in four weeks late.

431
00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,560
Can you blame any particular party?

432
00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:07,560
I think it's been a catalogue of
circumstances, really.

433
00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:09,480
It's difficult to pin the blame.

434
00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:11,400
I think we've learnt a good deal.

435
00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:14,840
For me, there was a time when
seeing nothing happening

436
00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,440
with the house was
a great source of frustration

437
00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,800
because you go time's ticking by
and nothing's moving forwards,

438
00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:25,520
and yet the baby was inevitably
moving towards arrival day.

439
00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:27,360
But now...

440
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,320
Well, it's so imminently due

441
00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:34,720
and the house is so
completely not ready that...

442
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:36,640
The house can wait.

443
00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:38,120
The baby coming is important now.

444
00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,160
And as long as that all
goes well, then...

445
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:45,880
Then that's OK. ..we'll move in
later on and it'll be fine.

446
00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,600
Jules does finally
have her baby at home,

447
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,800
unfortunately it's the wrong home.
BABY CRIES

448
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:54,920
She gave birth to a healthy baby
boy,

449
00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,160
surrounded by her extended family.

450
00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:02,920
Wow.

451
00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,480
Good timing. It was.

452
00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:08,040
BABY CRIES

453
00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:24,800
Tim and Jules didn't have
the home birth that they wanted.

454
00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:29,160
With all the delays, they're now
running £6,000 over budget

455
00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:32,200
and their problems still
aren't over.

456
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:34,400
Here we are.

457
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:36,280
Much the same, nothing's changed.

458
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,680
This is home, not quite yet.

459
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:41,120
We've missed the deadline.

460
00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:43,240
You were supposed
to have been born in here.

461
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:46,800
The name of the babe is Tiger,
Tiger Jules.

462
00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:52,560
And unfortunately not everybody
likes Tiger Jules,

463
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,640
but I think it's a great name.

464
00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,920
We can't move in till we've solved
the mud problem basically.

465
00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:01,160
We just need something.

466
00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,680
At the moment, the ground has dried
up quite a lot

467
00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:05,960
but when it rains it's unbearable.

468
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,520
And the idea of us all trying
to tramp in and out of the house

469
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:11,680
and through the garden and...

470
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:15,000
It's like, no, no, we can't do it!
It's cloying mud.

471
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,400
For the sake of my sanity.

472
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,200
I think Tim and Jules are coming
round to the idea

473
00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,880
that the exterior and the setting
of this house

474
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,160
are as important as the interior.

475
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,960
Tim has borrowed £3,000
from his dad.

476
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:29,720
This was less than he originally

477
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:31,680
planned to spend on the decking,

478
00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:33,080
but I'm sure that we can engineer

479
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:37,120
a cheaper substitute using
local materials.

480
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,480
With surroundings as beautiful
as these,

481
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,480
who wouldn't take advantage of them

482
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,080
and use them to give that house
a real sense of place,

483
00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:49,680
to help it flourish with local
colour and local materials.

484
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:53,400
A house built out of local materials
will already sit well

485
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,320
in the landscape,
but for Tim and Jules' house,

486
00:23:56,360 --> 00:23:59,240
the garden and
landscaping are the means

487
00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:04,000
to root it in its setting, by
bringing the beach up to the house.

488
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,600
The idea is to use reclaimed
railway sleepers.

489
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,600
These will form a jetty reaching
out towards the beach below.

490
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,120
The whole structure will sit
on shingle

491
00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:16,560
and the finishing touch with be
a selection of hardy,

492
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:18,760
wild-looking plants.

493
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:20,440
Unlike traditional hard paving,

494
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,640
this kind of garden is easy
to create.

495
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,200
Gradually, the shingle covers
the mud around the house

496
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,080
and the great clay mounds
are turfed over

497
00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:31,560
to resemble green sand dunes.

498
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,120
This gives an instant
transformation,

499
00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:37,640
although, it's more
expensive than growing grass seed.

500
00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:44,600
It's time to see what Tim and Jules
think of it so far.

501
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,240
The decking,
it's made such a huge difference.

502
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,000
In fact, it's made far more
difference than I thought it would.

503
00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:53,400
Well, I'm interested you say that

504
00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:55,760
because when I did that drawing,

505
00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:57,600
the ground plan of the house,
put the decking on it,

506
00:24:57,640 --> 00:24:59,760
in fact, when you look at
the size that it occupies,

507
00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:03,480
it's not double, but it's a
significant large area

508
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:05,960
and it makes your living area,
your outside living area,

509
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,200
as it were much, much bigger.

510
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,320
Well, I'd thought that once we
had the house built

511
00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:14,080
that was it, the most important
thing was the house,

512
00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:17,480
and actually, with retrospect,
it just stood in a space

513
00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:19,240
and now we've... A muddy field.

514
00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:21,560
Yes, a very... A very muddy field

515
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,800
But now we've paid attention to
the outside,

516
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:25,760
it's really brought it
together more.

517
00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:28,720
It really kind of... It flows now.
Gives it a context. Yeah.

518
00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,080
And it also relates it
to what's going on out there.

519
00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:32,760
I mean, with the shingle
and the sleepers,

520
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:34,880
it's all seaside materials, really.

521
00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,640
Yes, and these are great
because when it's pouring with rain,

522
00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:39,680
well, they're wet
but they're not muddy.

523
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:42,480
There's no clay on them,
which is great. Yeah.

524
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,440
In the end, the decking cost £3,000,

525
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,880
two thirds of the price Tim was
originally expecting to pay.

526
00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:53,240
It's the last stage of the project

527
00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:55,920
and Tim's parted ways
with Unique Homes.

528
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:58,280
He felt that as he had to find
the bricklayers,

529
00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,560
he might as well organise
the rest of the project himself.

530
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:06,080
John Hardy, the architect admits
that lessons have been learnt.

531
00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:09,600
I do believe that the client feel
that they weren't gaining

532
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,360
the best of services
because I wasn't available

533
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:14,840
and I can only be in
so many places at once.

534
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,200
One of the things we've learnt
during Tim and Julia's project

535
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:22,160
is that Unique Homes will only
be of a certain size.

536
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,080
My original plans were
to build Unique Homes

537
00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:27,680
up to a size whereby we'd be
constructing 50 houses a year,

538
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:31,040
but in reality, having developed
it to a certain stage

539
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:35,120
we're now downsizing to ensure that
we build no more than 15 houses,

540
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,640
but they'll be 15 houses of quality

541
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,680
and I will be involved in every one
of those projects

542
00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:44,080
to ensure that I'm satisfied
with the way that it's worked.

543
00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:47,480
So if you're thinking of building
a kit house,

544
00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:49,400
make sure it's a local firm.

545
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,920
In this case,
Tim got a £3,500 rebate,

546
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,840
and he's now on
the final stretch of the build.

547
00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:01,680
This includes the decorating,

548
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,480
once the girls have decided what
colour they want.

549
00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:06,840
It's the same red as that
other one, isn't it?

550
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,040
Yeah, I like the glossy colours,
but, I mean, we could do sparkly.

551
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:11,680
Maybe we could do sparkly.

552
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,520
I might want that
and then a sparkly yellow ceiling.

553
00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:17,640
No glitters, I don't want glitters.

554
00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:20,880
You don't you want glitters?
They're vile!

555
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:24,560
Oh, I like that green.
Yeah, I'm going to have that green.

556
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:27,760
That green's nice.
That green's nice.

557
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,400
Jules hasn't taken long
to get back to work.

558
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,080
I remembered
that having a baby means

559
00:27:34,120 --> 00:27:39,160
that it just takes possibly ten,
possibly 20 times longer

560
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:42,120
to do everything.

561
00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:46,760
But he's not very much of
a help at the moment.

562
00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:49,040
There's not much I can do about
it, really.

563
00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:53,360
Grin and bear it
and stick one tile on

564
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,400
the bathroom wall about every
two days.

565
00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:01,320
The piece de resistance
will hopefully be the kitchen,

566
00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:04,840
which I really want gold
on the walls.

567
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:09,680
Not very many wall units,
in fact maybe none at all, but gold.

568
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:12,680
Not yellow, a real kind of
metallic colour.

569
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:14,800
But I'm not quite sure how
to get it.

570
00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:16,800
It's proving rather problematical.

571
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:18,600
Ella chose this colour.

572
00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:20,720
It's supposed to be jeans red.

573
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,760
But... And if she doesn't like it,

574
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:28,760
then she can paint it out
in something different.

575
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:32,280
It's sort of chainsaw massacre red,
isn't it?

576
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:40,560
I'm very run down,

577
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:45,080
and I can't even draw
a straight line any more.

578
00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:47,120
I've got no money,

579
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:51,880
I bashed myself in the face on
the mantlepiece.

580
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,720
And...

581
00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:59,200
..my Land Rover's head gasket
has blown up.

582
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:04,440
I've had about four hours' sleep
in as many weeks.

583
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,560
I'm just delirious now.

584
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:12,400
Now...

585
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:17,000
Oh, God.

586
00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,560
Shit.

587
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:30,720
Tim's back on the baby shift,

588
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,840
so I show Jules how to get
her golden kitchen

589
00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:36,480
without breaking the bank.
Up! Oh!

590
00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:38,280
Show me how it's done.
It's easy, easy.

591
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:39,880
Now, I tell you what,
pass me that...

592
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:41,520
Is it that one?
There's one with some glue in.

593
00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:43,520
With milk in.
Yeah, it looks like milk.

594
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:45,800
It's just gold size,
which is a water-based thing.

595
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:47,600
And you just brush it on.

596
00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:50,040
I'm not going to do the whole wall.

597
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,120
Oh!

598
00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:54,320
Oh, dear. All right, then.

599
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:56,960
Well, the idea is that I show you,
and then you have a go.

600
00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:01,240
So this is the brass leaf?
Yeah, this is fake gold, yeah.

601
00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:04,160
Oh, it's so thin.

602
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:06,920
Well, I'll just press it down
as well as I can

603
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:09,760
through the wax paper and
then just...

604
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:11,880
HE WHISTLES
JULES GASPS

605
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:14,600
It's great, it's so gold!

606
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,320
Number two. Good heavens.

607
00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,600
Transfer brass leaf,
or Dutch metal,

608
00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,120
is cheap and easy to use.

609
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:27,200
By laying it on a yellow background,
the gaps and joints are disguised.

610
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:31,840
Oh, that's fairly foolproof.
It's not difficult. Ah.

611
00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,680
Beautiful finish, and the rest is
down to you, in between feeds.

612
00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:38,440
I hope it'll be different when you
see me next.

613
00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:39,600
I think it's going to be wonderful.

614
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:41,760
We'll have to invite you back into
the gold kitchen,

615
00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,960
sunglasses to be provided at
the door. Money corner. Yeah.

616
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,800
Thank you, Kevin. Good luck.
Thank you.

617
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:52,880
The day for moving out of
the terrace

618
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,480
and into the new house
has finally arrived.

619
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:04,440
At last, Tim has a place to put
the mountains of his stuff

620
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:08,120
that have been in storage since
the build started.

621
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,960
That is it.

622
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,640
Well, we've nearly covered
the entire floor. We're done.

623
00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:22,960
I don't want to ever move house
again. Time for tea.

624
00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:24,640
No, I could understand that.

625
00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,360
It's taken six months to build,

626
00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:42,920
it's gone way over the original
budget,

627
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:45,320
but at last Tim and Jules have got
to the stage

628
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:48,840
where they can say the house is
finished.

629
00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:52,240
The build has seen the birth of
Tiger, their fifth child,

630
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:56,400
and has almost caused complete
financial ruin.

631
00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,320
It's time to see if it's all
been worthwhile.

632
00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:01,120
And it had been.

633
00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:03,400
Tim and Jules turned their
timber kit house

634
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,280
into a warm and inviting home
for seven.

635
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:07,480
Oh, yeah, look at this.

636
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:09,320
It's like a big kitchen-diner.

637
00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:10,640
You know, like old farmhouses. Mm.

638
00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:12,920
Everyone lives in the kitchen,
don't they?

639
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,560
Upstairs were all
the family bedrooms.

640
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:16,720
Yeah, this is our room.

641
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:18,920
All with coastline panoramas.

642
00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:20,800
Beautiful view of the harbour.

643
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:23,880
The bathroom paid homage
to its structural history.

644
00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:26,400
It's the same weather boarding
that's on the outside of the house.

645
00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:28,400
It's nice.
It's like a sauna inside.

646
00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,240
The kitchen still gleamed with
the brass leaf I'd shown Jules.

647
00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:33,040
It gives this rich feel.

648
00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:34,840
Yeah, I like the gold against
the blue.

649
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:36,320
Neither of them were gardeners

650
00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:38,120
but they were determined
to experiment

651
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:42,000
with some exotic plants to help
the house settle into its new home.

652
00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:45,600
It's amazing what just
a few bits of greenery make.

653
00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:50,760
However, the building still stood
stark against the barren land.

654
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:55,000
So how does it stand now,
25 years on?

655
00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:57,600
I mean, it's got to have changed,
hasn't it?

656
00:32:57,640 --> 00:32:59,360
It's got to have matured.

657
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:03,560
The setting, the setting at least,
will be different.

658
00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:05,600
I can't wait to see it.

659
00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:27,240
In 1999, Tim and Jules were
the first-ever Grand Designs couple

660
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:29,720
to leap into the self-build realm

661
00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:34,960
and build their blended family home
on the white cliffs of East Sussex.

662
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:38,480
It was their hard finish deadline of
a pregnancy

663
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:40,840
that got them so far,
so quickly,

664
00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:43,840
but how did the house cope with
the rushed decisions

665
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,160
and the unforgiving
south-westerly winds?

666
00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:50,120
Architecture yearns,
if you like, for immortality.

667
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:51,400
Buildings hope...

668
00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:53,120
Hope to live forever.

669
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:56,200
And the difficulty with this house
was that it was put up so quickly,

670
00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:57,640
and it was made of timber,

671
00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:00,680
you wonder whether on top
of this cliff,

672
00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,640
with these strong,
salty south-westerly winds,

673
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:05,760
whether or not the building
has been able

674
00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:08,440
to survive properly over that
quarter century,

675
00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,920
whether it's still in one piece.

676
00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:13,960
I can't tell from here,

677
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:18,680
because all I can see is a forest.

678
00:34:18,720 --> 00:34:21,520
Like a little Eden.

679
00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:24,760
25 years ago,
the house stood on barren land,

680
00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:27,640
exposed and vulnerable to
the elements.

681
00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:29,120
With the passage of time,

682
00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:31,440
this place now
overflows with new life,

683
00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:33,880
a forest maze has sprung up.

684
00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:36,000
Willow, corkscrew willow.

685
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:38,400
Hazel, sycamore.

686
00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:40,480
Wow. Oak, pine.

687
00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:42,720
Scots Pine over there. Wow.

688
00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:44,600
I mean, from a field,

689
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:48,280
Jules and Tim have created
an amazing forest here.

690
00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:51,240
Can't see a house, though.

691
00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:53,640
But as I push deeper into the woods,

692
00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:57,960
I get a teasing glimpse
of where our story started.

693
00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:00,120
How about that?

694
00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:02,520
This is amazing.

695
00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:04,520
Our first-ever Grand Designs house

696
00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:07,160
now has a rich and lush new setting,

697
00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:09,800
a forest that has flourished
around it.

698
00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:14,720
Oh, it's full of curiosity
and wonder

699
00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:18,760
and 25 years' worth of stuff
and life.

700
00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:20,120
It's beautiful.

701
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:23,040
Hello! Oh, I know you!
Hello, Kevin!

702
00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:25,040
How have you been for the last
25 years?

703
00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:27,320
I've been great. How are you?
How are you? Good.

704
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:30,680
Good to see you both.
Come here. Tim.

705
00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:34,040
You look very young.
Yeah, I am well. How are you both?

706
00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:37,640
Oh, fine. Well, older, but no wiser.
The same. You're the same!

707
00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,240
That's the wonderful thing.
Do you think so?

708
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:41,720
Yeah. I mean, everything else has
changed here.

709
00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,440
The woodland, which has sprung
from... The garden's grown, yeah.

710
00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:46,320
Well, it's a bit more than that.
It's a forest.

711
00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:49,760
It goes right down to the track.
And it's so mature. It's lovely.

712
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,280
If I remember rightly,
the house was sort of a...

713
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:54,000
..orange, yellowy colour.

714
00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:56,080
It's sort of a dark reddy brown now.

715
00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:59,560
What we discovered was
that in the winter gales,

716
00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,600
the cedar cladding
wasn't quite up to the job. Right.

717
00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:07,800
So, the answer was to tile
the upper west and south face.

718
00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:09,720
Oh, so that's...
Now I see. Of course.

719
00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:10,880
That's worked well.

720
00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:13,520
And the sleepers,
which I think were your idea,

721
00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:16,600
they have kept so much mud
out of the house. That's great.

722
00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:18,320
Do you like our deck?
I love it.

723
00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:19,640
It has lasted really well.

724
00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:22,720
It's just built out of roofing
stringers and...

725
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:24,000
Leftovers. Yeah.

726
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,320
The girls loved it as well,
when they were younger.

727
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,360
They slept, we thought,
one night out there,

728
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,040
but in the end, they slept nearly
a year on that deck.

729
00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:35,160
How amazing. They'd drag all
their bedding out. Oh, seriously?

730
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:36,920
And they loved it.

731
00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:39,120
So, inside...
Well, you must come in.

732
00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:42,040
You must have redecorated
since 1999. Only partially.

733
00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:45,200
Hardly. Really? Oh, my goodness.

734
00:36:45,240 --> 00:36:46,920
How wrong was I.

735
00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,640
In 25 years, they haven't changed
a thing.

736
00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:52,680
The living room retains
its warm inviting charm.

737
00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:56,800
Everything is very much still here,
including the gold wall.

738
00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:58,960
It's still so gold!

739
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,080
Did it do that Chinese thing
of being the money corner?

740
00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:03,320
Or was the house the money pit?

741
00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:05,240
It was supposed to encourage me
to cook,

742
00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:07,720
but that didn't work in
that direction.

743
00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:09,640
This house is pretty unchanged.

744
00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:13,600
Yet, of course, family life has
softened the building's edges.

745
00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:17,400
Even the money-saving windows
seem to have fitted in.

746
00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:20,800
I mean, the fireplace is as was,
isn't it? Everything... The floor.

747
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:22,440
The floor's been amazing.

748
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:24,040
It's a bit tough, a bit unforgiving.

749
00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:26,520
Tiger, he couldn't crawl on his
knees. He had to go...

750
00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:27,800
On to his toes.

751
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:30,240
..up on his toes.

752
00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:32,280
Family photos and ageing furniture

753
00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:34,880
serve as reminders of how
this building has been

754
00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:38,040
a timber vessel in which
so much life has happened.

755
00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:41,600
If the kitchen table could speak,
that would have many memories.

756
00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:44,600
I guess that's one of the advantages
of staying in the same place,

757
00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:47,160
you can build up a patina of memory.

758
00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:50,240
It kind of makes it really
a solid home,

759
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,640
especially for kids
and ultimately grandkids.

760
00:37:53,680 --> 00:37:57,440
Yeah. I think the whole place is
going to come into its own again

761
00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:00,160
with the grandkids. Yeah.
They already love the garden.

762
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:03,040
Have you got any?
I've got three.

763
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:04,400
And I've got two.

764
00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:07,360
Oh, hang on.
There's a tribe, yeah.

765
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:09,160
Was this always green?

766
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:11,160
This was always green,

767
00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:16,200
and what's more is we repainted
it green about ten years ago.

768
00:38:16,240 --> 00:38:19,680
Now that most of
the adult children have moved out,

769
00:38:19,720 --> 00:38:22,480
there are some welcoming guest rooms
for when they visit

770
00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,560
with their young families.

771
00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:27,680
Although, Tiger now has
an attic bedroom.

772
00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:32,480
Oh, this is exactly the same, is it?
This is as it was.

773
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:34,000
It is exactly the same.

774
00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:35,880
Another familiar space.

775
00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:40,960
The log cabin bathroom, remarkably
after 25 years, is unchanged.

776
00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:42,920
The best green outcome
of this project is

777
00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:45,640
the fact that nobody has changed it
in 25 years, it's still the same.

778
00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:49,200
Yeah. We made the decision when
the house was built, that's it.

779
00:38:49,240 --> 00:38:52,320
I didn't really want to make any
decisions of that kind again,

780
00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:54,200
so I haven't.

781
00:38:54,240 --> 00:38:57,440
I do so love Tim and Jules'
philosophy.

782
00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:00,440
We seem addicted
to remodelling our homes.

783
00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:03,440
Here's a couple who are content
with what they have.

784
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:07,000
Oh! Oh, my goodness.
You see right out.

785
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:10,640
Though the bedroom looks familiar,
the views have changed.

786
00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:14,560
Now there is a bounty
of treetops as well as a sea view.

787
00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:17,120
It's quite expansive now.
Good, isn't it?

788
00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:18,760
With the glass on all three
sides here,

789
00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:20,680
it's like a sort
of observation deck.

790
00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:22,480
Downstairs it felt like
I was in a forest,

791
00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:24,320
up here it looks as though
I'm looking out over

792
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:27,840
the canopy of somewhere
in Portugal. Yeah.

793
00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:31,720
Every window in this house
is a picture in itself.

794
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:33,880
I don't think we quite realised
that when we built the house.

795
00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:37,080
No, we have been lucky.

796
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:39,600
It's lovely to see the sea
every morning.

797
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,480
You end up thinking you're taking it
for granted,

798
00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:45,760
but I'm sure it sinks in.

799
00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:48,600
Downstairs, Tim and Jules have taken
advantage

800
00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:50,280
of their south facing home.

801
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:53,200
This is completely new. Yes.

802
00:39:53,240 --> 00:39:55,840
When did this go up?
Oh, 15 years ago.

803
00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:59,520
Oh, it's completely new!
It's only 15 years old.

804
00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:01,080
But what's it for?

805
00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:03,440
In the summer it's a snooze room.

806
00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:06,760
And then through here is...
Oh, another new one.

807
00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:08,480
Oh, another new one.

808
00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:10,240
Who built this?
Is this you, Tim?

809
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:12,040
Yeah, everything here is salvaged.

810
00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:14,920
So this seems to me like
part greenhouse,

811
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:17,240
part conservatory.
How do you use it?

812
00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:18,600
Propagating.

813
00:40:18,640 --> 00:40:21,280
If we want to try our hand
at some vegetables.

814
00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:23,480
It's a little bit of a...
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

815
00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:25,800
Bringing things on from seed.
It's all good, yeah.

816
00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:27,120
Growing the grapes.

817
00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:28,680
That in itself is just a...

818
00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:31,680
It's a lovely space just
to watch them grow.

819
00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:34,960
Outside, the house disappears into
wilderness

820
00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:39,920
of hundreds of trees that
Tim and Jules planted 25 years ago.

821
00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:41,960
If you remember, this was mud.
Yeah, I do.

822
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,480
It was like the Somme.

823
00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:44,840
Did you go for specific species?

824
00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:46,720
I mean, did you discover
that certain things

825
00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:48,520
worked here coastally and not
others?

826
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:50,960
I'm not sure that we really
knew what we were doing,

827
00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:52,280
but it didn't seem to matter.

828
00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:55,240
We did plant stuff that would
support insects,

829
00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:56,920
which is why we've got
a lot of oaks.

830
00:40:56,960 --> 00:40:59,760
And that in turn, of course,
then that's supportive of birds.

831
00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:02,000
Yeah. And then you realise you get
the bird song,

832
00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:04,840
you get the dawn chorus,
you get the butterflies.

833
00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:08,240
It's nice for Tiger, I think,
growing up here, especially,

834
00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:11,840
because it's a massive area
that was his kingdom.

835
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:15,400
What are you going to do today,
then? Got any plans?

836
00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:19,160
I'm sitting on a broken chair.

837
00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:23,360
It sounds like Tiger, the baby
who grew up alongside the house

838
00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:24,640
and its landscape,

839
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:29,360
particularly benefited from Tim
and Jules' wild forest creation.

840
00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:34,120
He's still at home, and at 26, he's
a full-time paragliding instructor,

841
00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:37,080
who also spends time
raising a falcon,

842
00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:39,200
and he's a published
children's author.

843
00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:42,320
Hi, Kevin. Last time I saw you,
you fitted into a shoe box.

844
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:43,880
I think I was in
the wheelbarrow last time.

845
00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:46,040
Yeah, in the wheelbarrow, indeed!

846
00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:48,600
And how much time did you spend out
here as a kid?

847
00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:49,880
Oh, an enormous amount.

848
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:52,120
My parents had a very hands-off
approach to parenting.

849
00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:53,800
They just kicked me out.

850
00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:55,600
I'd go and build a den.

851
00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:59,320
And then when dinner was ready,
the bell would ring.

852
00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:03,080
It's like something from Paddy
Clarke, or some old school story.

853
00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:05,880
But you've also bought a bit of land
yourself, haven't you?

854
00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:08,440
I have. I've grown up with this
garden,

855
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:11,960
and as the trees have grown and
we've had some opportunities come up

856
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:15,040
with neighbours and now we've
expanded out.

857
00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:17,920
I mean, the garden was instrumental
in my childhood,

858
00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:20,400
shaping how I see the world
and the environment.

859
00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:22,360
Now there's a forest school here.

860
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:23,800
They do various activities.

861
00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:26,000
Lots of the activities
that I enjoyed growing up.

862
00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:29,400
I actually wrote a book about it.
It's called 'How to Be an Explorer.

863
00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:32,120
"Outdoor skills and know-how
for young adventurers." I love that.

864
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:34,800
The older I get, the more you look
back at your childhood and go,

865
00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:37,480
"OK, yeah, having this outdoor space
massively influenced

866
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:38,880
"the kind of person I became."

867
00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:40,640
Maybe it was the name as well,
who knows?

868
00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:43,480
Yeah, It's a great name
to have on the front cover.

869
00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:44,880
Tiger. Yeah.

870
00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:48,840
You know that that person is not
going to be a shrinking violet.

871
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:54,000
Growing up here has evidently played
a huge part in shaping Tiger.

872
00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:57,680
I wonder if the house has impacted
his parents just as much

873
00:42:57,720 --> 00:43:00,840
What are your regrets about
doing it? If there are any.

874
00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:03,200
That you think,
"Oh, we should have done that.

875
00:43:03,240 --> 00:43:06,080
"It'd be great if we'd have..."
None. No? For me, none.

876
00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:09,520
No. It's worked out beyond
our wildest hopes.

877
00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:12,120
And the kids have all thrived.

878
00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:14,400
We know how lucky we've been.

879
00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:16,680
I think it's quite rare
to find people living in

880
00:43:16,720 --> 00:43:19,760
the same house that they bought
or built 25 years ago.

881
00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:22,680
I think that's...
It's to be celebrated.

882
00:43:22,720 --> 00:43:26,000
Yeah. We never thought
of moving anywhere else.

883
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:28,560
There was never any reason
to go anywhere else.

884
00:43:28,600 --> 00:43:33,720
And the house itself has fulfilled
its...expectations and ours.

885
00:43:33,760 --> 00:43:36,400
Yeah. It'll have another chapter.
Yeah.

886
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:39,040
This is still our chapter,
but it'll have another one, I hope.

887
00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:41,120
What's your view of
the building now?

888
00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:42,520
What do you see it as?

889
00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:46,040
What do you see the building as
being responsible for,

890
00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:49,680
for the last 25 years?
Life. Our life.

891
00:43:49,720 --> 00:43:53,880
Setting our children up to cope with
the things that they might encounter

892
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:55,680
in their lives.

893
00:43:55,720 --> 00:43:59,280
And having a blooming good time
being here

894
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:01,840
and being in the space
and being with the family

895
00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:03,800
and being with each other.

896
00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:07,040
I agree with her. Good!

897
00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:12,920
Do you ever look at the film that we
made in episode one?

898
00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:16,160
It's indelibly fastened on my
memory.

899
00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:17,640
It was great fun.

900
00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:19,760
I think that Grand Designs gave us
a record

901
00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:22,400
that we would never have had
otherwise. Yeah.

902
00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:24,800
So I'm quite grateful for that
because I know it's something my

903
00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:27,680
grandkids will be really interested
in watching.

904
00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:29,200
And...

905
00:44:29,240 --> 00:44:31,800
And so, yeah, thank you for that.
Well, thank you.

906
00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:33,080
It was a privilege.

907
00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:35,000
We didn't really
quite know what we were doing

908
00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:37,160
because we had to forge a different
kind of programme

909
00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:38,600
that hadn't existed before.

910
00:44:38,640 --> 00:44:40,160
So thank you for putting up
with us.

911
00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:42,280
More than a huge privilege
to come back.

912
00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:44,600
Just magical.

913
00:44:47,040 --> 00:44:50,560
After 25 years, I feel honoured
to be back here and to witness

914
00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:53,080
the ways this house has worked
its magic

915
00:44:53,120 --> 00:44:55,600
on our very first Grand Designers.

916
00:44:55,640 --> 00:44:58,040
Jules and Tim's joy,
hope and energy

917
00:44:58,080 --> 00:45:00,640
fuelled their self-build adventure

918
00:45:00,680 --> 00:45:02,240
and literally laid the groundworks

919
00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:06,360
for the journey others in our long
series have embarked on.

920
00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:10,680
Architects talk about buildings
as if they are containers

921
00:45:10,720 --> 00:45:11,960
for human activity.

922
00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:14,720
But of course, they're much more
than that.

923
00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:17,920
They're places where our
imaginations can flourish.

924
00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:21,600
They can act as catalysts
for our wellbeing.

925
00:45:21,640 --> 00:45:25,960
They can also grow,
like this place has.

926
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:28,760
And with the building growing
and changing,

927
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:32,960
so the surroundings have
also grown up around it,

928
00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:36,040
and the family have grown
and their stories have changed.

929
00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:38,960
And it teaches me that although
we make a series about

930
00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:42,520
the ups and downs, the dramas and
excitement of construction,

931
00:45:42,560 --> 00:45:45,600
of building something
and the difficulties of that,

932
00:45:45,640 --> 00:45:49,400
actually the really
exciting narratives,

933
00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:53,480
the great stories happen
when the building is finished.

934
00:45:53,520 --> 00:45:55,880
That's when it really takes off,

935
00:45:55,920 --> 00:45:57,920
as Tim and Jules' house proves.

936
00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:16,120
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