Why is a Brighton Grand Design being sold so soon?
Fans of Channel 4 TV show Grand Designs will recognise this super-shiny new modernist home in Brighton, which featured on our screens in April last year. But I’m surprised it’s on the market – for £3.5 million – quite so soon as I had thought the creators – local couple Barry and Julie Surtees – were going to live in the thing rather than sell it off.
The sale is also a surprise given the levels of pain the couple went through in front of the Channel 4 cameras (and Kevin McCloud’s withering wit) to get the project finished.
But is it a liveable space? I have to admit that many of these ultra-clever, uber-contemporary properties leave me a bit cold – they just don’t seem particularly homely – but there are some pleasingly quirky elements that do tickle my Bauhaus-style fancy.
Take the fourth-floor living area called ‘the pod’, for example, with its brightly coloured, super-sized sofas and that motorbike on the wall; although I’m not sure if Kevin McCloud would have approved of such ‘mass market’ frivolity.
But it’s the wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling windows that I really love – and I’m astonished that Surtees can bear to leave those incredible views behind.
For more information, call Hamptons International (Brighton and Hove) on 0843 2816 026.
Tags: Brighton, Grand Designs, Kevin McCloud, new builds
Related Tags: new builds, Brighton, Kevin McCloud, Grand Designs, Buying & Selling
Posted by 7 comments on “Why is a Brighton Grand Design being sold so soon?”
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That’s really strange. If someone takes the time and effort to create a property from scratch and tailor it to their own specifications, then you wouldn’t expect them to sell it off so soon.
Yeah, for a project like this it has to be a real labour of love. Also with it being quite personal as well and also the price being a major factor surely it will be quite a job to sell. Maybe they fell on hard times and can’t keep up the mortgage, who knows. It is quite something though. But I agree with you Jocelyn it looks a bit cold to me. I don’t know if you have seen those new school academies which have be springing up they look similar to this from the outside, a bit officey.
Although it seems like a fancy property, it is a bit officey. Only I like is the full-sized windows
I think they need to do some decoration works to feel you like you are at home sweet home…
I’m not surprised they’re not keeping it. By the end of the programme it felt like Julie Surtees wasn’t planning on moving in and had just popped in for the last days filming to put on a brave face.
The main topic of relocating and storage area isn’t new however it is an under rated subject matter that will require more interest.
I’ve always thought that if someone is going to spend time and money on a property to meet their needs then they will want to live in the property themselves. Mind you it’s property worth more than it cost in the end.
That really is nice house, they did a great job. I’m also a big fan of those floor to ceiling windows. Why are they selling so soon?Only they know the answer to that I guess.