A home which was seen in the ‘saddest ever’ episode of Grand Designs has finally been sold.
It’s been well over a decade since Edward Short started building Chesil Cliff House, which he intended to be a dream property in Devon for him and his family.
However, the project cost him a fortune – as well as his marriage to wife Hazel – and left him facing bankruptcy.
The lighthouse-inspired home was originally listed for sale a few years ago for £10million with Harry Styles among those rumoured to have shown interest at the time.
In 2024, it was relisted at a knockdown price of £5.5million, and finally sold in October 2024, and Edward is ‘relieved’ the ordeal has ended.
However, The Sun reports that Edward won’t get a penny from the sale, with the mansion itself and a smaller sister property called The Eye both already in the hands of receivers, who typically manage or sell a property to help recover a debt.
‘I’ve had time to get used to it and I’ve moved on,’ he told the newspaper. ‘I’m relieved it’s all over without a doubt. But there were lots of highs and lows in there, there were some amazing moments.’
At one stage, he had racked up a debt of £7m, so the sale price doesn’t come close to cover that.
Now, he’s had to ‘mentally’ come to terms with knowing he’ll never get to actually make his ‘dream house’ a home.
He added: ‘I would never live in my dream house so I have mentally moved on.’
In 2019, the property was featured on the Channel 4 show in what viewers described as the ‘saddest episode ever’.
The family, who originally borrowed £500,000 from a hedge fund, had an initial budget of £1.8m over 18 months, but costs piled up as they had to borrow a further £2.5m from private investors, while their two daughters even turned to car boot sales to help out.
In the episode, the family was burdened by debt and the property was left unfinished, and his marriage was already over by the time the programme aired.
The couple remain good friends, and Edward has admitted he feels ‘guilty’ for not being able to give Hazel a safety net.
‘She got nothing. Everything I had, I’ve lost,’ he said, while revealing he did find love with a woman called Jalia.
They even planned to get married, but the stress of the project and the devastating aftermath put strain on their relationship, and they broke up over the summer.
‘I would derive pleasure from seeing [the home] at its very best,’ Edward admitted. ‘I know my “grand design” is now gone. But I can still buy a lottery ticket and dream.’
Grand Designs is available to stream on All 4.
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