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Major update on Grand Designs’ ‘saddest ever house’ years after tragic ordeal
The presenter of the hit British home show Grand Designs has revealed that he is glad they aired the “saddest house”, and has shared an update on the man behind the South Coast lighthouse.
Chesil Cliff House in Croyde, North Devon, commonly known as the "Lighthouse", appeared in series 20 of the daytime television classic in 2019.
The huge house took 10 years longer than it was supposed to
The house’s owner, Edward Short, started the mammoth project with a £1.8 million ($2.4 million) budget and an 18-month timeline.
However, it somehow spiralled into a 12-year ordeal costing roughly £7 million ($9.25 million) and ultimately his marriage.
Quickly, the once glamorous project turned into something of a tragedy as the financial and physical stress of the renovation led to the breakdown of Short’s 20-year marriage.
In one episode of the Channel 4 programme, presenter Kevin McCloud interviewed Short’s daughters who were desperately trying to raise funds for their dream home at a car boot sale.
Heartbreakingly, Short and his family never got to live in the huge house overlooking the Atlantic Ocean as he sold the entire project to pay off the debts he had racked up.
After spending a long time on the market, the house was finally sold in 2025 for just half its original $13.2 million (£10million) asking price.
Short does not regret building the house despite its problems
Speaking to local newspaper Devon Live, host McCloud said: "Ed, yes, well, I think he's just licking his wounds a bit and enjoying life and relaxing and not over-obligating himself.
"I mean, I really think he learned so much when we did the revisit to that project in North Devon. He was very philosophical and in a good place, you know, very, very self-critical of some of the decisions he'd made, but not regretful of the journey.
"I think he found a lot of happiness and a lot of resolution. And that was very redemptive. I know the press made a whole hoohah about the saddest ever, the most expensive ever, the most disastrous, but you know, I'm pleased we filmed it.
"I'm sad that it didn't work out for him. The truth of the matter in the project is more complex and subtle than the tabloid headline, isn't it? So it was going to be, because it's about how these projects affect people and where the human energy comes from.
"I certainly know myself that the greatest, one thing I've learned in life is that the greatest driver of good things on the planet and positivity is love, human love. And there was plenty of that in the film, and certainly in the revisit.”