Over the years Grand Designs has seen countless dream projects turn into nightmares, with homeowners plunged into debt and left with unfinished homes at times.
Although many viewers will remember the infamous ‘saddest ever home’, another property was eventually taken over by squatters after being found washed up on an Essex beach.
In 2007 Chris Miller and his wife Sze Liu Laine took on a truly unique build – spending £50,000 to build an environmentally-friendly houseboat from a rusting Thames barge.
The couple had plans to create a two-storey houseboat with three bedrooms using only eco-friendly and second-hand materials after failing to find a home more spacious and affordable than their small East London flat for their family, which also included their two children.
However, during the episode, viewers saw them faced with countless issues and clashing with builders, with one construction worker declaring their passion project looked like ‘s***’.
Even host Kevin McCloud described it as a ‘floating scrapheap challenge’.
They eventually reached their limit, being forced to jump ship after blowing their budget and spending an extra £30,000.
A few years later, in 2011, The Medway Eco-Barge was found washed up and vandalised on an Essex beach, where it was being used by squatters.
Despite the home’s history, Rob and Sarah Burch decided to attempt to give it another lease on life.
They’ve now spent £150,000 on transforming one of Grand Designs’ most notorious builds into their dream holiday home.
The couple, who own a steel frame firm, jumped at the chance to work on the vessel at their boatyard in the riverside town of Burnham-on-Crouch in Essex.
Rob, 54, has explained they paid around £70,000 to buy the barge from a boatyard in Southend.
‘Structurally, it was in a reasonable position externally, but somebody had started work on it on the inside,’ he told Mail Online.
‘They were doing a conversion, and everything they had done looked okay on the outside, but it was terrible when we started to look at it. So, it ended up being a complete refit.
‘The idea initially was to recycle the materials back onto the boat, but because we delved so far into it, it literally became about taking it out and replacing it.’
However, due to the fact the boat was being kept on the water, they faced several challenges including tides and storms.
‘We were going to put a steel frame on top because that’s what our line of work. And the downstairs was going to be just tidied up because it looked to be okay. But as soon as we started looking at it, there was water under the boards and stuff like that, so we knew we had to do a lot more work on it,’ he said.
The couple managed to recycle many of the materials already on board before ‘cleaning it up a bit and making sure things were robust’.
After two years of work, the family finished the ambitious project, which now features a stunning bath, fully equipped kitchen, cosy living room, a small library and even an outdoor BBQ area.
Sarah said the houseboat was a ‘nice little pad to go and spend time in when we’re not at home’.
The also said they had no plans on selling the boat, with Sarah saying they were too ‘attached’ to it.
Grand Designs is streaming on Channel 4.
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