Kevin McCloud floored by huge transformation of overbudget Grand Designs house that left couple penniless in a caravan
GRAND Designs host Kevin McCloud was left gobsmacked after seeing the transformation of a home he once slammed on the show.
The TV presenter revisited Leigh and Richard from Derbyshire in the latest episode of the beloved Channel 4 property rennovation series.
During the episode, Kevin went to check up on the progress of the couple’s 17th-century Cornish flour mill and was impressed by the sight of the refurbished home.
In 2021, Leigh and Richard appeared on the programme and shared with the host that it was their dream to convert thenabandoned mill into a modern three-bed home with a budget of £250,000 and a 12-month time frame to complete the mission.
The couple put their business on hold and sold their first home while also deciding to move 250 miles to live in the caravan on site.
With the help of traditional craftsmen to restore the exterior, which was rotting away, they soon decided to get stuck into the house building themselves.
Initially, Kevin advised the couple to focus on conserving the original structure, but it fell on deaf ears and resulted in the budget running out.
Two years after they appeared on the show, Kevin revisited the project in a teaser short clip ahead of tonight’s Grand Designs episode.
On today’s instalment of the show, Kevin meets up with the pair, who give him an update on the house.
In the preview clip, the 64-year-old explained that he was ‘always impressed with the love and attention lavished on the faithful repair of the exterior stonework.’
He also added that the house owners ‘risked everything’ to try and transform the ‘wonderful old workhorse of a building’.
He began: ‘When I last visited, it was adrift in a sea of building materials, brambles and collapsed outbuildings.
“But now…all the smelly garages have gone, and low, there’s a landscape!
He added: ‘Well, this is all as it should be. Surrounded by beauty and gardens.’
The host praised the couple for ensuring that the mill was now firmly rooted in its location and appeared to be ‘flourishing amongst a backdrop of abundance’.
The last time Kevin was at the mill, rooms were unfinished, landscaping was untouched, and the pair lived in their caravan.
When the couple bought the property in 2021, it was undesirable, to say the least, but Leigh and Richard were determined to make the house their home.
The pair and their artisans got to work, and as it got closer to the 12-month mark, they started to cut corners and replace rather than restore much of the woodwork due to their budget running low.
For over 400 years, the building was a place to grind flour and feed animals before it was abandoned, but now the couple have managed to change it into a house they can be proud of.
Most recently Kevin revealed to New Zealand media outlet Stuff, that he cannot keep the craftmen on his show for long because he is ‘fussy’ and that ‘finding good people is hard’.
He also revealed how two stars of the show passed away while filming ‘very difficult’ projects.
Grand Designs is on Channel 4 today at 9pm