Kevin McCloud reflects thoughtfully on the Chesil Cliff House project that captivated viewers and had a devastating impact on one man’s life.
Edward Short’s infamous ‘saddest-ever’ Grand Designs build put him through an emotional and financial wringer, culminating in both overrunning the budget by £7million and his marriage unraveling after 12 years of construction.
As the seasoned presenter of Grand Designs, Kevin observed the saga unfold and has now offered insights into what truly mattered amid the tumultuous North Devon cliffs.
In a recent Zoom chat from his own splendid home, Kevin told the Daily Star: “That film was about far more than sadness. In fact it investigated a whole range of human emotions, not least humility and envy, greed. It was a film about overreaching and about hubris, more than anything else.
“There were some sad events, there often are, and we deal with every aspect of humanity – we’re currently building a project which is about bereavement and we’ve made entire films about loneliness.”
Challenging the narrative, he voiced frustration at the fixation with labeling Chesil Cliff as the ‘saddest-ever’, suggesting that such a moniker overlooks the deeper, more significant messages in the story.
Edward and his wife Hazel invested their life savings into a demolish-and-rebuild property endeavour, but they faced unrelenting challenges that turned their dream into a nightmare. The once-ambitious project was ultimately re-listed at a significantly reduced price a long 13 years after the Grand Designs team first documented their journey.
“The thing that frustrates me about Ed’s story is that sobriquet is a little bit of a distraction, it’s kind of annoying, nothing more than that really,” said Kevin.
Despite the setbacks detailed in the tale, Kevin remains uplifted by a subsequent episode which depicted a more positive chapter for Edward and his loved ones.
“We went back to do a revisit, which was all about humility and about reconciliation,” Kevin said. “He’d reconciled and become friends with his ex wife, his relationship with his daughters was great, he’s found a new partner in life, he had still kept hold of the project and finished it, so the thing had a sort of happy ending.
“And Ed all the time, as he had been at the end of the first programme, was utterly honest and open, brutally honest, about his own shortcomings and his failings and overreaching. And so it became a programme about something else entirely in the midst of the wreckage of it, a beautiful human story that was quite redemptive.”
On the topic of the ‘saddest-ever’ label attached to the episode, he humorously quipped: “No one ever talks about that. This is the ‘most redemptive’ Grand Designs ever.”
Kevin has been lauded for his down-to-earth approach and knack for connecting with individuals on the show who are facing tough times, whether due to their construction projects or personal circumstances.
He shared that the narrative surrounding Chesil Cliff was crafted from a solid rapport with Edward, allowing him to portray his story with genuine honesty and depth.
“Ed was marvellous because we’d been filming him since 2012,” Kevin said. “I got to know him well and like him, and it’s great to see him every time I do, so there are relationships with these people that are really quite established.
“You’re 37 minutes into a film and I’m eight years into a relationship by the time I’m asking these questions. That’s putting it bluntly.”
At its core, Kevin’s role is about human stories – he insists that buildings mean nothing without the people behind them – and he’s eager to engage with many such individuals very soon. The conversation with Kevin took place just before this year’s Grand Designs Live, scheduled at London ExCel from May 2 to May 5, where he looks forward to indulging in ‘nerdy’ conversations with fellow design enthusiasts.
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