Grand Designs couple £7m in debt after ‘saddest ever episode’ saw them lose everything

It's one of the most famous Grand Designs episodes... for all the wrong reasons

A huge clifftop mansion overlooking the sea which featured on an infamous Grand Designs episode is now on sale for £10m, though it sadly cost the couple millions of pounds, as well as their 20-year marriage. Edward Short and his then-wife Hazel starred on the show back in 2018 in an episode which has since been dubbed one of the saddest ever. [caption id="attachment_351668" align="alignnone" width="1606"] The family will never get to enjoy this infinity pool (Image: Knight Frank)[/caption] The episode saw the couple build what was meant to be the lighthouse-inspired mansion of their dreams, Chisel Cliff House. The six to eight-bed property is now finally complete and sits on a clifftop between Saunton Sands and Croyde Beach, overlooking breathtaking views of the North Devon coastline. But tragically, the couple and their kids Nicole, now 22, and Lauren, 21, never got to live there because the construction of the house and Edward's self-confessed "messed up dreams" tore their family apart. [caption id="attachment_351662" align="alignnone" width="768"] Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud talking to Edward Short and then-wife Hazel in Croyde (Image: Channel 4)[/caption] Edward, 54 and from Plymouth, had a successful career in music and made big bucks from Euphoria, a series of complication CDs which sold six million copies after launching in 1999. With plenty of money in the bank and a yearn to move back to his home county, he paid £1.4m for the original property, which he developed on the cliff near Braunton. [caption id="attachment_351666" align="alignnone" width="1402"] It even has direct access to the coastline via steps from the garden (Image: Knight Frank)[/caption] However the dad-of-two is now in approximately £7m down as a result of the project - a figure that continues to increase daily. Edward said he now "wants out" after pouring everything into the home, but losing his wife as a result of the "pressure" his dreams put on the family. [caption id="attachment_351670" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Edward Short's dream ended in a nightmare (Image: Channel 4)[/caption]

Speaking to The Sun, he said: "It’s got to go because it’s beyond me now. I’m quite excited about that final moment when the deal closes. I’ve worked so long to get to that point and now, hopefully, that’s around the corner.

"It will be nice to get some sort of payback, even if it’s only a pint and packet of crisps at the very end."

[caption id="attachment_351669" align="alignnone" width="2048"] The original property was in quite a state (Image: Channel 4)[/caption] The Grand Designs episode shows how costs to develop the property soon racked up but despite this, and to the surprise of presenter Kevin McCloud, Edward refused to change his plans. The couple had originally planned to borrow £1.8m but this quickly increased to £2m and then £4m. Edward said: "I had spent a lot of money going into geology and engineering but we never tested how hard the rock was. We had to bring in specialist mining equipment, which also broke, and it took six months to dig instead of a month. The numbers just started to go through the roof." [caption id="attachment_351672" align="alignnone" width="1304"] The family will never get to enjoy the property (Image: Knight Frank)[/caption] Grand Designs producers return to visit Edward in 2016 and 2018, by which point the project was on hold. "Every pound that was being spent, the value was going up but at the same time, the chance of living in the house was going down," Edward said. The dad-of-two admitted he "pulled the stability rug" from under his family, with no answers about how they could resolve the nightmare.

"I was so stressed about leaving that stain of failure on my wife and children that I was worrying a lot," he said, "I was losing sleep, but that effectively made me unable to function."

[caption id="attachment_351676" align="alignnone" width="1610"] If you've got £10million to spare, it's yours (Image: Knight Frank)[/caption] The musician was, however, determined to finish the house, as he simply saw no other way out. Work resumed on the property, by which point he and Hazel had split, although Edward said they're still "the best of friends". The father-of-two now has a new fiancée, Jalia Nambasa, but admitted that what he put his ex-wife through was "horrendous" and that he carries "a lot of guilt" as a result. Despite this, Edward said he is still "proud" that he never gave up on the property, which went on sale this month, even though he never got to enjoy it. Related links:

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