Luxury £10 million property on 'saddest ever' Grand Designs episode close to sale after 'lighthouse' cost owner his marriage
6 June 2023, 16:06 | Updated: 6 June 2023, 16:08
A luxury £10 million lighthouse-style property that took ten years to build is close to sale after featuring on the "saddest ever" episode of Grand Designs.
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The Chesil Cliff House in Croyde, Devon, is being sold as two separate properties after coming close to a sale last month.
The property, which was supposed to take 18 months to build, ended up under construction for a decade and left its owner £7 million in debt.
The main property, a white art-deco lighthouse-style house, will be sold at £7.5 million.
Owner Edward Short wants £2.5 million for the second house, a beach development next door called 'The Eye'.
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Mr Short, 52, has long been unable to sell the property, which took ten years to build while debts mounted - as documented on the Channel 4 show.
But a source told MailOnline that "the sale of Chesil Cliff House in its entirety is very much on. It has only been put back on the market, because certain deadlines for the sale have passed.
"Ed is still confident that the original interest, which is from a foreign buyer, will see his property sold. He remains positive about it all.
"The sale is being negotiated, but because the potential buyer hasn't yet signed on the dotted line and an agreed date has passed, the agents have been obliged to offer it to all interested parties again.
"The preferred sale would see it sold as a single property, but Ed is keen to see if maybe one of the developments can be sold first in a separate deal to get one off his hands.
"He is his usual optimistic self and remains confident it won't be that long before a deal is done and the secret bidder will eventually reach a deal with him."
The lighthouse was featured on Grand Designs in October 2019, with some viewers calling it the "saddest episode ever".
Music business executive said that the building issues, the recession, and the end of his marriage to his wife Hazel had brought him to the brink of bankruptcy.
He said: "These past ten years have been a marathon slog – and I have got used to being a millionaire in debt. I've accepted the only way forward is to finish and sell it.
"I had no idea it would end up costing so much but I've accepted now that I'm never going to be able to live in it because I have money I need to pay back.
"It was my overconfidence and arrogance that got me here in the first place so I'm doing what I need to do."
Christopher Bailey of Knight Frank, the estate agents for the property, said: "It is iconic in the true meaning of the word and there is nothing else to compare to it on the market right now."
