Grand Designs UK on ABC – Back in 2013, Jon and Noreen planned to build a giant three-bedroom tree house on an unloved half-acre patch of urban woodland in Jon’s hometown in Gloucestershire.
Their stacked ‘3 box’ design was to be almost gravity defying, with a steel frame anchored to slender screw piles to avoid harming any tree roots and a mirror glass ground floor to reflect the surrounding trees.
With complex engineering, and incorporating a ceramic workshop and an artist’s studio, their budget of just over £250k seemed ill matched to the high ambition of the project.
Jon and Noreen moved into a cabin on site, with the hope of completing the build within nine months, but huge delays finalising structural drawings left them despairing.
After a frustrating 8 month wait, the couple finally threw themselves into construction, driven by their strong sentimental connection to the town.
Despite working hands-on for long hours, and relying on the help of local friends, by 2016 the house was barely ready enough for them to move into. The tree house, and the woodland, were full of promise but their money had run out and many rooms remained unfinished.
Now, seven years later, presenter Kevin McCloud returns to see if this unique home is finally complete, and to find out what life up in the trees is really like.
Production credit: FremantleMedia Ltd/Naked West. Written and Presented by Kevin McCloud.
Grand Designs UK on ABC and ABC iview – Thursday 6 June at 9.00pm
TV Central ABC content HERE
