Ferris Bueller, you're my hero: Grand Designs couple face budget woes and tragedy as they try to replicate the glass and steel house from cult Eighties movie
Many of us dream of recreating something we've seen in a film, but few of us actually do it.
So when Harry and Briony share their ambitious plans to build a modernist steel-and-glass house like the one made famous in cult Eighties teen movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud's scepticism is understandable.
*This article contains spoilers for Grand Designs episode two*
BIG PLANS, NOT ENOUGH BUDGET
When we meet them for episode two of the latest series of the hit self-build show, they've bought the eight-acre site of a former dairy farm for £490,000. They're crammed into a tiny cottage that came with the plot, which they plan to rent out to holidaymakers for extra income as soon as possible.
Harry has taken on the role of project manager after developing an "obsession" with James Speyer's Ben Rose House, which stands in a forest in Illinois and inspired the classic pavilion seen in the hit comedy. Despite never visiting it himself, he seems sure that he can honour it – in just eight months.
The "sexy" centrepiece will be a massive 220sq metre open-plan living space made from 40 chunky Speyer-style steel beams and four-metre high glass walls, creating the impression of "a structure floating out over the valley".
This will be adjoined to a more pragmatic five-bedroom wing with a 20-metre long hallway, also made of steel but hidden behind more modest timber cladding. The house itself will be accessed via a walkway leading down from the hillside above.
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MORE DELUSIONAL OPTIMISTS?
Optimistic timing aside, the problem, as Kevin quickly points out, is that a high-spec replica of the Speyer house would cost around £800,000 to build. Harry and Briony's "Speyer on steroids" will be a third bigger – and their budget extends to £400,000 tops.
But there's no going back now – the foundations have already been poured. Luckily, Harry has two hugely experienced builders by his side – Ken and Mark have built over 40 houses between them – but it soon becomes apparent that this project either needs more money and manpower or more time.
It's a relief when the steelwork team join in August, bringing the number of workmen on site up to seven, but when a measurement mistake by Harry halts progress by several weeks, all hope of moving in by Christmas slips away and anxiety levels start rising.
"Maybe ego got the better of us, of me," he says, as he's forced to take gamble after gamble and painfully veer away from the Speyer model to do the best job he can on a shoestring.
DEVASTATING NEWS PUTS THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE
Then comes some awful news that puts the stresses and strains of the project into perspective – Ken, 'the bossman', has died suddenly in his sleep, leaving the whole team devastated.
"He was always so patient with us, we asked stupid questions every day and he’d put up with it and teach us in his charming Cornish way," says Harry. "He wasn't just a builder, he was a friend of the family too."
Grand Designs 2017: series highlights
The Beast from the East adds to their woes come March, threatening the couple's new goal of moving in by Easter. By now, they are at least £50,000 over budget and have had to sacrifice a lot of pricey glazing in favour of orange larch cladding.
"Blimey," says Kevin. "The relationship between this home and the Speyer house is becoming ever more tenuous. I hope Harry doesn't live to regret it."
Don't hold back, Kev.
IT'S NOT SPEYER, BUT IT'S STILL SPLENDID
But come June, 14 months after starting, it's finally ready, and it's fabulous. "Speyer was pure glass and perhaps a bit impractical, but it inspired us and this is our version," says Harry proudly.
The walls of the vast kitchen/diner have been covered in ply to cool, industrial effect and everything is super-sized, from the huge sofa area and 3.5 metre-long island to the ceiling-high custom-built bookcase on wheels that serves as a movable wall.
Overall, they have smashed through £510,000, some £100,000 over budget, but the extra time and expenditure have proven worth it, thanks largely to Harry's skill at spotting talent and accepting his own limits early on.
"Great buildings are only great because of the work and love that people put into them," says Kevin, as Harry tears up remembering the heart and soul Ken put into his passion project.
Kevin may have given Harry a hard time over his "cavalier" attitude, but he concludes that his only guilt is that of being human – striving for the best for his family, demanding commitment and reaching for the stars.