Grand Designs in East Dulwich

[Ko]

As someone mentioned Castaway, I thought I'd mention that Grand Designs (that Channel 4 programme) have been filming on Landells Rd. They are building a couple of eco-homes and a few months ago Channel 4 had a big crane with a camera on top to do aerial shots. The new series started last week but the houses aren't finished yet so not sure if it will make it into the current series. The houses won't spoil the Victorian consistency of the road though as they are being built on land behind the houses which used to be a wood yard - the access is through the house with the scruffy blue gates (which will at last get smartened up so we will no long have to look at the graffiti-ed gates). The people who sold the wood yard must have made a fortune on that land.

[jim_the_chin]

ooh, thanks for that, like GD (but not Kevin 'Peter Perfect' McCloud) and live in landells. i wondered what they were doing in there.

has anyone bought any land in the local area? i'm thinking about buying a bit and wondering how deep my pockets need to be

[Ant]

I usually end up watching that programme in, shall we say, an uncharitable manner. Common phrases to be heard include: har har, more money than sense! Ho! Should have listened to the advice, shouldn't they? That'll learn 'em. Etc.

I wonder whether living on the same street will make any difference this time.

[Ko]

Given how long they've been building the houses, I reckon they will cost a bob or two to buy. We get an update through the door every now and then about what's the latest new super-dooper eco thing being installed and they have had some problems along the way .

Maybe they should have listened to the man down the road who said to me 'What's all this eco thing, a house is a house as long as you can live in it'. Yeah I might mention that man to the TV company next time they're round and they can get him on the programmme saying 'More money than sense!'. That will make him a star - I'm sure he'll love that.

[Louisa]

Great idea eco homes and I adore Grand Designs

[Joe likes dinner]

am all for eco homes and am a fair fan of Grand Designs.

On the 'more money than sense' angle, we should heed the chap who spent around ?650k or and now lives in castle. yes, a castle, he is like a king on the north york moors with ninety bedrooms and a glass roof.

Or should we balk at ourselves for staring in the Windows of Winkworth's looking at a 4 bed terrace for ?500k? Damn those period features!

I for one will be trying to extend my ED postage stamp by a few square inches and then head off to make something in the side of a hill in scotland out of old tyres and disused gideon's bibles, all powered by a small stream and a hamster:)

[capt_birdseye]

It was 750k.

[Huguenot]

Kill the planet why don't you! One bloke... ninety rooms with a glass roof.

For those who don't get the gag I heartily apologise.

[AcedOut]

Does it have a giant elevator?

[buggie]

Ah, went past there the other day and wondered what was happening - is funny as you can see the modern buildings behind the older frontage.

BTW did you know Kevin McCloud use to live on Thompson Rd? When me and my boyf were having a rubbish time tryig to buy our flat last year we looked round a few other properties and one was his old house - the then owners hadn't had to do anything much to it unsurprisingly!

[capt_birdseye]

Huguenot Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Kill the planet why don't you! One bloke... ninety

> rooms with a glass roof.

>

> For those who don't get the gag I heartily

> apologise.

Actually he was using sustainable energy to power the house. In your face!

[Joe likes dinner]

ant wrote

''Common phrases to be heard include: har har, more money than sense! Ho! Should have listened to the advice, shouldn't they? That'll learn 'em. Etc.''

and after last night's episode Ant's words certainly ring true, the exemplary quotes being;-

''one fated night in October, so and so and his wife's beautiful thatched cottage burnt to the ground'' = KM

''It all happened in slow motion, but when I spoke to the insurance people, the poilcy hadn't been renewed'' = home owner

Even the old chap on Landells knows you should renew your insurance! and the house burned down because the chimney caught on fire from never being swept, ever. oh and the daughter was called Beaver, that may just sum it up. Not a scratch on the softly spoken man's castle from last week!

Kevin M was on top form however:-

This house...

This..... space

You see....

Its not just a building, a structure...

bricks... wood.... thatching...

Its a journey.. a discovery..

Genius - he is like an M&S advert!

[ednerd]

We were about to buy one of the victorian terraces that backs onto this new eco-development a couple of years ago but pulled out once we saw the plans - they're cramming a lot into a very small space and we figured the houses would encroach onto the small garden and we couldn't be faffed putting up with the noise of the build. Does anyone out there live in a house bordering the new development and care to comment?

We're now shacked up just down the road and am constantly curtain twitching to see if the Kevster has returned and wants to pop round for a cuppa...i love him, despite his design-snob drivel.

[Nero]

Evenin' all. I walked down Landells earlier today and those blue gates were wide open. I had a peek at the eco houses and saw nobbut two wooden-clad boxes, sans windows, sans doors. Maybe I didn't go far enough down the alley to get a proper gander, but they looked a bit rum to me. Still, the wood was nice to look at. Nero

[Ko]

Yes the wooden clad boxes are the houses! My husband says that you can get a good view if you walk down Silvester Rd.

A man who lives near to the site stopped by my house and when I asked him how the noise was, he said that the builders did try to be considerate and that there had been noise before with the business. From what we can hear, there does seem to be a fair bit of noise caused by the building work, although they do try to be considerate.

They were filming there again last week. When I originally asked the planning office about what was agreed, I think (although my memeory is a little hazy) the final decision was to allow two 3-bed houses to be build.

[ednerd]

curtain twitching has paid off.. it's 16:12 and the kevster is on Landells filming as we speak... I think he wants to be my friend....

[Mark]

pictures, we want pictures.

And please can you make a big sign mentioning the forum and casually hang it in the background so it gets seen on telly.

[ednerd]

shamola... it's only the rest of the crew...he is coming back though.. and I will be here.. waiting... watching.

[Keef]

That's slightly disturbing ;-)

[Joe likes dinner]

top stalking ednerd!

[ednerd]

the identity of ED nerd may be sensationally exposed in the coming months. EDnerd has just been filmed by the crew giving her profound opinions on the eco-build. EDnerd is no longer merely a Grand Designs stalker.... I think Kev knows he has competition....

[Ko]

Damn - I've just logged on and I didn't think to mention the Forum - I should have said something like "Yes everyone has been talking about it on the East Dulwich Forum". Sorry!!

I was interviewed this afternoon for the programme and the best bit was that I was allowed on the site to see the houses.

The houses look really good - attractive wooden cladding, huge glass doors around the living rooms and a small courtyard between the two houses. The builder is going to live in one (him and his family seem really nice) and they are going to sell the other one. The houses will be finished in about one month.

[Kathryn]

Do you think you could ask them to invite local ED ers to the final programming. We could all bring a bottle of something sparkeling to celebrate the finish of their home and it would be great if Kevin was there to. Is that a bit sad. I do love that programe.

[AcedOut]

Find out if they have a buyer for the other place!

[Ko]

I talked to them about the house for sale and they didn't seem to have anyone lined up to buy it and they haven't yet set the price. You could always drop by and try to get in first!