Grand Designs 'saddest ever' home goes on sale again – with tragic new update (original) (raw)
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Curse of 'saddest ever' Grand Designs home goes on as estate agent issues tragic update
The £10m Chesil Cliff House in Devon was one of Grand Designs' most ambitious projects ever, and gained notoriety when owner Edward Short split from his wife - now it's back up for sale for £5.25million
A cliffside home in Devon subject of a controversial failed Grand Designs project is up for sale again
The ongoing saga of a ridiculously ambitious Grand Designs home may finally be coming to a sad close - after the cliffside property was listed for sale this week through debt collectors.
Chesil Cliff House ended up costing owner Edward Short his marriage and left him in £7million of debt. The incredible coastal mansion near Braunton, North Devon, was designed to resemble a lighthouse and took 12 years to build, resulting in development hell.
Originally started on a budget of £1.8million with the hopes of being completed within 18 months, the doomed project resulted in Mr Short splitting from wife Hazel. In February last year, the unfinished cliffside pad was removed from an estate agent's site amidst talks with a "serious buyer" – before they then reportedly pulled out at the eleventh hour.
Yet it seems the property is now back on the market again through Law of Property Act receivers - indicating that the sale is part of debts being resettled. The listing reads: "Savills are appointed on the instructions of Joint Receivers: H.Varsani & M.Yianni (Belleveue Mortlakes Chartered Surveyors & LPA Receivers)."
The five bedroom home is going for £5.25million according to Rightmove, offering one buyer the "once in a lifetime opportunity" to take on and finish" one of the UK's "most spectacularly situated coastal homes".
Having originally been listed for sale last year by Knight Frank and matchproperty.co.uk, a new Rightmove listing went up on Friday (January 26) on behalf of luxury property merchant Savills, describing the home as a "bespoke design brought to life through impressive engineering".
Owner Edward Short reportedly mounted £7million of debt over the property (
Image:
Tom Wren SWNS)
Plans for a helipad at the luxury home have been given the green light, the listing claims, while the private clifftop location near to the village of Croyde offers panoramic coastal views.
The RightMove listing goes on: "The property represents a once in a lifetime opportunity to take on and finish the specification and fit out of one of the UK’s most spectacularly situated coastal homes. The bespoke design has been brought to life through impressive engineering, with the building being anchored to the bed rock, blending whitewashed elevations with steel and glass, culminating with a lighthouse feature at one end giving almost 360 degree views of the coastline.
"The position combines privacy with a diverse range of breath-taking views, all set in around 3 acres, which includes a large area of foreshore, a private tidal beach area and coves." The mansion also offers three acres of land and a lush infinity pool and hot tub, as well as a spacious driveway.
Plans for the home included an incredible infinity pool (
Image:
Knight Frank)
The luxury lighthouse-inspired home took 12 years to build (
Image:
Edward Short / SWNS)
Nic Chbat, Director of Match Property estate agents in North Devon who previously assisted with finding a buyer last year said at the time that the sale stalled after the timeframe for the sale "expired". He told Express.co.uk that the previous buyer was "still wanting to buy the property", with the sale still expected to go ahead.
However, Friday's listing suggests the purchase never happened and the sale was now being managed by London-based estate agents Savills. A spokeswoman for both Savills and receivers Bellevue Mortlakes confirmed the sale but declined to comment further on the circumstances beyond information given on Rightmove.
The spokeswoman said: "The sale represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase one of the UK’s most spectacularly situated coastal homes and for the buyer to put the finishing touches to the property’s interior to their own specification. The current sale price (offers in excess of £5.25m) represents fair value noting the prevailing economic and heterogeneous nature of this opportunity.
"The property has panoramic sea views and is set in grounds of over three acres, including foreshore and a tidal beach, with accommodation extending to over 6,260 sq ft. The detached guest lodge/holiday let accommodation extends to about 1,270 sq ft and is included in the sale price. Subject to registration with the agents, the receiver has provided an extensive suite of information and supporting documentation relating to the buildings history, construction and title, which are available via an online data room."