All language subtitles for Grand Designs - S24E01 - Wye Valley.en

What would you do if

an elderly relative gave you

an heirloom piece of furniture -

I don't know, a beautiful clock?

Well, obviously,
not to hurt their feelings,

you would have to repair it,
and keep it running,

polish it and look after it,
just as you would cherish

and hand polish
a beautiful piece of old furniture.

But, what if they gifted you

a brick water cistern
on the side of a hill?

I mean, what on Earth
would you do with that?

I know!

You could live in it!

Along this Herefordshire valley

once ran a bustling steam railway,

from the late 1800s
until the mid-20th century.

Not that you'd know today.

Except that on a nearby hillside

sits an engineering relic
from this steam age -

a disused water reservoir
that once fed

the thirsty steam engines
running in the valley below.

The reservoir and surrounding fields
are a special place for Rosa,

whose family have lived
in the valley for generations.

The fields overlook my mum's home,
where she grew up,

overlook my grandad's home,
where he grew up.

The reservoir and the fields to me
mean everything.

It's all my memories, from
every time I finished school,

I had my horse up here,
ride around the fields,

and then when I was young,
grandad used to take me up here,

every day when he used
to pick me up from school.

Now elderly and living nearby,

Grandad Leo is not, in fact,
Rosa's relative,

but became a grandfather figure
to her when she was very young.

I don't actually remember
life without him.

He's just always been there

and I've always
thought of him as my family.

And he always will be my family.

He's such a fantastic man.

The family bought the reservoir
and the surrounding fields

from a local farmer,
and Grandad Leo long dreamt

of one day converting it
into a home.

My grandad's always talked about,

"one day we will have a home here".

He'd always say,
"It'll never be in my lifetime,

"but one day you'll live up here."

And I thought "OK, Grandad".

Blue-sky thinking perhaps,

but then Rosa, an audiologist,

met Craig, a skydiving instructor.

So, Craig's an avid sky diver.

I say avid - he does
it pretty much 24/seven,

and in his sleep,

and encouraged me -

maybe forced me - to do it.

She done a tandem skydive, and then
she was hooked from there onwards.

We've been all over the world
skydiving together now. Yeah.

Terrified of flying though, still!

Still terrified of flying! Take
your parachute with you. Yeah!

Having conquered the skies,

Rosa and Craig
now have their sights set

on a no less extreme challenge -

the reinvention of the reservoir
as their home.

I think it was about six months
after we started seeing each other

properly,
Rosa brought me up here one day

and I was instantly in love
with the fields,

the reservoir and everything,
from that first moment.

It's not hard to see why.

Oh, this has to be it,

This has to be it
because it's such a pretty place.

There's just a sort of
an amazing natural beauty.

But how on earth Rosa and Craig
transform this subterranean,

industrial structure into a
comfortable, light-filled home,

I'm intrigued to find out.

Hiya. Hi, lovely to meet you,
I'm Rosa. Rosa.

I'm Craig. Craig, how are you?
Who's this chap?

This is Truffles.
Hello, Truffles.

It looks like a military bunker,
doesn't it?

A little. It's... Like an air raid
shelter or something.

It is like an air raid shelter
that's been fenced off.

It's been empty
for about ten years now.

OK. So, it belonged to the water
board? It was, yeah,

till about around the 1970s.
Can we get in?

Yes, let's go.

Oh, it's full of stuff! Yeah.

It says in big letters there,
"danger"!

Where's safe to be?
Am I OK here?

You're OK there. That's fine,
you're not going to fall through.

How long had your grandfather
been working on it?

At least ten, 15 years.

He...he drained it of water, did he?

Yeah. Well, he's written it
on the board -

326 barrows of slurry,
that he got out from the bottom,

carrying over his shoulder
with a wheelbarrow and a bucket.

You're joking?
Yeah. On his own.

Can I go down? Yeah!

Oh, err! It's vast!

Come on down.

What's that brick structure there?

So that is the inspection chamber

from when it was
a gravity fed reservoir,

and on top of it is
a giant ballcock and float.

That we're keeping.

Like you'd find in a toilet cistern.

Both of those are staying -

they're going to be a feature
in the reservoir, once it's...

It's so giant, I hadn't
actually clocked it,

because at the moment it's quite
hard to imagine this place

being lived in.
Do you know what I mean?

And it's quite hard to imagine

that it's going to have enough
light in this hole in the ground.

Well, what we are doing on this side
is cutting some holes into it

and extending that side
into the hill.

Punching through this structure,
is going to be tough, I imagine.

Yeah. Well, we thought that it
was actually concrete poured in,

like formwork essentially,

but we've done some ground
investigation on other side of it

and its stone.

Rubble stone from the field,
literally. From this field, yes.

Amazing! How remarkable -
you've got a stone building!

So, people pay a lot of money
for that finish,

and when we cut out into
the courtyard, we'll have it there

already waiting for us.

Rosa and Craig have enlisted
the architects Loyn and Co

to realise the transformation
of the reservoir,

and it's every bit as audacious
as you might imagine.

The first stage will be the
excavation of 3,000 tonnes of earth,

mostly from the hillside
to the north,

exposing some of the reservoir's
stone walls for the first time.

Three large openings
will be punched through

the exposed flank wall -

two for large picture windows,

the third for a walkway
to connect an entirely new,

all-concrete wing to house
a dining room and the bedrooms.

This new extension will be then part
re-buried under 200 tonnes of earth

so that it all but disappears
into the hill.

What remains exposed is the
centrepiece - the reservoir.

The dilapidated roof
gets replaced with

a super insulated version,
on a new steel frame.

Clerestory windows will slot between
the original brick piers,

and some half-moon curved glass
walls will fill the gable ends.

Inside, a sleek,
new mezzanine underneath

the arched ceiling will connect

via a steel framed bridge
to an airborne snug,

from where there'll be
some extraordinary views

over the valley.

The steel bridge structure
also connects to

a steel staircase that will drop
through the open space

to one large, kitchen
and sitting room below,

embellished with the reservoir's
giant ballcock,

and lit, not just from above,

but by the two enormous
glazed openings that will reveal

a delightful new courtyard garden

that will sit at the heart
of this home.

The connecting walkway
will tie the old reservoir

to the new extension
via a glass-walled dining room.

Beyond it will lie
the more private spaces

in the concrete wing -
family bathroom and four bedrooms,

the largest of which
will be Rosa and Craig's.

I do hope they have deep pockets,

because I'd expect that pulling off
this ambitious reinvention

is going to cost
well over £1 million.

How much did it cost to get
the land, if anything?

£800. £800 yeah,
just the changeover fees. Wow!

Wow, OK. To pass it into your title.
That is the miracle...

We're very blessed.

..of living in a valley where your
family have lived for however long.

Yeah. And have you got a contractor
organised for that yet? No.

Oh, right. Nobody appointed yet.

No. OK.

When you do appoint a contractor,
on what basis is it going to be?

Is it going to be a full contract -

are they just going to do the whole
thing? Yeah, full contract.

How much it this going to cost
to do this? Do you know yet?

The contract value
will be about 700,000.

What you're saying is you've got
700,000 that you want to spend. Yes.

What happens if the contractor
comes in and says 900?

Then we'll have
to rethink things, I suppose,

because that is us at the very
limit of our funding source.

Is it? Yeah. OK, 700.
So how much are you borrowing?

Around 500,000.

Yeeee, half a million quid!

That's a lot by anybody's
imagination, isn't it?

Yep. Wow!

It means so much to us,
it means so much to my family.

We're not just building a house,

we're building...we're building
our future,

building our children's future
and their children's future.

But when do you actually start?

Start building in March next year.

When do you finish?

12 months we're giving
the project date for.

That's the aim.
And if its longer?

My grandad's health
has deteriorated a lot,

especially in the last four years.

It would mean the world for me
for him to be able

to come up here, and show him
what we have done... Yeah.

So that is also a deadline as well.

You'd like him to see the finished
house. Yeah. How old is he now?

He's 86 now.

Oh, wow. Yes, he's a good ripe age!

Yeah, a good ripe age.

Yeah, that would mean
a great deal to him, I'm sure.

Rosa and Craig will be
living with Grandad Leo,

the man whose idea this project was,

until their new home's complete.

So, it's worth talking to him,
and Rosa's mum, Tessa.

Leo, when was last time
you were up there?

About six months ago, wasn't it?

Yeah. To me it's paradise there.
It is paradise, you know?

When did you buy it, the field?

About 13 years ago,
it was a dream come true,

for Rosa to keep her horse
on there.

So, Rosa was sort of part of
the reason

for buying it in the first place?
Yeah. Yeah.

So, she was always involved,
in other words.

Oh, she was the boss.
She was the boss.

A good little girl.

It must be pretty exciting, to think
of Rosa actually getting

planning permission
and actually doing it.

Oh, it was unbelievable,
out of this world.

This is your dream come true
wasn't it,

that one day, we thought,
not in my lifetime,

she might get permission.

That was marvellous.

To be fair,
I have to keep pinching myself.

I don't think I can
really believe it now.

I think, "She's done it. Wow."

And I think it's
a next chapter for the reservoir.

It'll breathe new life into it.

It's up to them now, you know?
I wouldn't want to interfere.

Our dream's come true.

While Rosa and Craig
wait for quotes to come in,

they form an access track from
the reservoir to the nearest road.

First bit of work
that we're starting on site,

we're starting with removing
a 50-metre section of hedge

before we can create
the access to come into the field

before construction
actually happens -

that's costing about £600 total,
so pretty good.

But any optimism about
costs evaporates

when the builders' quotes
start coming in -

way above the £700,000 Rosa
and Craig can just about afford.

The highest tender out of three
that came back

was £1.4 million.

And then our cheapest one

out of the three was £1.1 million.

Which, again, is ridiculous.

It's a hammer blow to their dreams.

Not in a million years we thought
that they'd come back

at what they did.

We can't afford it.

If you'd said to me, this is how
much this house is going to cost,

this is how much you know, the dream
that you've both got is going to be,

we'd have said no. There's no way.

There's just no way
that we can do it.

But all that was before
sadness filled their lives.

SHE SOBS

I feel very sad
because it's all his stuff.

His bike that's in there,
and everything.

All his cards
that I've ever written him.

All saying "Grandad".
All his pictures.

Everything in there
that he's ever kept.

I just feel so proud
to actually be his granddaughter.

Grandad Leo, the inspiration
behind so much of this project,

passed away suddenly
in late December.

It was a complete shock.

It was on the Tuesday he was fine,

then on the Wednesday he wasn't.

We had the horses.

They come down, and
all the dogs were with him,

me and my mum were with him,

and then he quietly
just slipped away then.

The desire to honour Leo's memory

suddenly becomes
a powerful motivator.

The land, it does take on
a different meaning to me.

I think we are doing the right thing
by building his home.

It's what I always
spoke about with him.

We are going to live there

because I almost see it
as his legacy.

But how on earth
they're going to pick up

the project from here,
I have no idea.

A full year since
I met Rosa and Craig,

a year of emotional recovery

and financial head-scratching,

a colossal earth excavation
has begun

next to the old,
Herefordshire railway reservoir.

It's been stripped back
to a bare shell.

It's absolutely massive down there.

It is massive.

The footprint of that's bigger than
the house we're in at the moment.

After protracted negotiations,

Rosa and Craig managed to get

the construction price
down to £950,000,

primarily by compromising
on the exterior landscaping.

But they're still spending
250 grand more than they wanted.

I'm not going to lie,

I have had sleepless nights thinking
about are we actually able

to achieve this, or are we going to

put ourselves into bankruptcy
because of it?

I don't think Rosa
kind of sees that at times.

She's just like, "Oh, it'll be
all right in the end",

but there's serious consequences
to taking out loans

and mortgages, and borrowing
money off people.

You know, you've got to pay
it back at some point.

Grandad Leo bequeathed
his home to Rosa,

the sale of which will help cover
some of the extra costs.

But they still need to borrow
an extra 100 grand

from the bank -
a whopping 600 grand in total,

at a time when another life-changing
development is on the horizon.

We're now expecting a little baby
in about three months' time.

Just to add to the absolute terror
that I'm feeling already!

The financial stakes
couldn't be higher.

Yet, after just five weeks,

the excavation phase is complete

and the builders are cutting out
three huge holes in

the reservoir's flank wall for
the picture windows and walkway.

Seeing the reservoir exposed to
the elements for the first time...

Hello!

..is quite a sight?

Hey! This is astonishing, isn't it?

Yes, it's outstanding!

I was prepared for this
but it's so strong

and it looks so much like
a proper house, a building.

I just love the stonework on it.
I think it's beautiful.

It's remarkable.

It's like you've built
a house in the 18th century

and then buried it,
and then uncovered it!

There's one thing I'm dying to do,

and it wasn't ever possible before

and that is to actually
enter a building.

Before, we were climbing down
a ladder into a hole!

Oh, yeah.
Oh, this is a ready-made house!

It's so different.
This is... This is magnificent.

So, thinking about this,

you're not building a house,
I've just realised.

This is archaeology,

excavation,

civil engineering,

landscaping,

new build,

repair and restoration,

Yeah?

So, no wonder it's costing
what it's costing!

A terrifying £950,000.

Which reminds me,
how on earth are Rosa and Craig

intending to service
a 600 grand mortgage,

in the height of Covid, and with
a nipper due in three months?

So, the start of the pandemic,

Craig started up a business
that we're working from home.

So we've done an online
confectionery shop.

So... Really? Yup!

See, it's so obvious
for a skydiver to do that!

We had to get creative, didn't we?

Online sweeties?

Yeah. You're going to have to sell
a lot of Sherbet Dabs aren't you,

to pay for anything like this?
How amazing.

Is it going to make a serious
contribution to the house?

It will help during Covid times,
definitely.

OK. God help your baby child.

I know! You're going to have to put
a lock on that door, aren't you?

He'll be the coolest kid in
the school, with a sweet store!

He'll be the fattest!

THEY LAUGH

Well, I hadn't
seen that one coming.

There we go.

Three months into their anticipated
12-month project they start on

the reservoir's new earth sheltered
wing, made from exposed concrete.

It will house
the dining room and bedrooms,

and cost £260,000.

Once you come out of there,
we'll go round the back

and we'll just double check
off the back again.

Naturally, Rosa and Craig want
the concrete to look as smooth

and as beautiful as possible.

Which is why they've
employed Darren,

who has a fine pedigree
in the field,

having helped build
the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff.

They brought in a new specification
especially for that job.

It's basically because
it was all exposed concrete,

they wanted to take it to
the next level of exposed concrete.

So, this is cabinet making
level of joinery.

It is really, really precise.
Yes. And beautiful and detailed.

We really pride ourselves
on these types of projects.

We're building this house
for somebody who's

going to live here
for generations to come.

Their family, their grandchildren.

If you put that time and effort
and love into it,

you can make something special.

But not everyone here's convinced
that exposed concrete

is the right material
to build a home with.

It's a Teletubby house really,
isn't it?

It's under the ground.
It's all going to be buried.

I don't know. Not for me.

I think it's just
a multistorey car park at the end

of the day, isn't it?

Yeah. I don't like it.

That's me.

But Rosa and Craig's architects,
Loyn and Co,

have established an
award-winning reputation

designing earth-sheltered
homes from concrete,

including this one 80-miles away
on the Gower Peninsula.

You know, if James Bond ever retired
and took up organic gardening,

he'd live here.

This is a hunkered lair.

This is a very different building
to Rosa and Craig's,

but it's also hunkered into
a hill, yeah?

It is, and the driving force
for all of our architecture

is context.

A lovely Frank Lloyd Wright quote -

"A house should not be on a hill.
It should be of the hill."

Hill and house,
the better for each other.

I mean when you're in Gower
it's the landscape.

It's an Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty,

that's so important,

and instead of putting ON the site,

we lift the site up,

we insert, and we put the site back.

Yeah. Therefore, we're taking
nothing and we're giving something.

Boy, is this place beautiful.

I mean. It's exquisite.

It is cherished,

and it makes this fantastic
connection to its context,

it's setting,
and it has one other quality,

which is that it's finished!

Whereas Rosa and Craig's
house clearly is not.

I mean, it's just as ambitious
in a way as this building is -

it shares some of the same DNA,

the same architect

but their resources, of course,
are finite and at the moment...

Well, at the moment their project
is more mud than concrete.

But mud and concrete
will have to wait.

Meet, baby Leo!

He was born on 6th April at 6:46.

And he weighed 8lbs 4oz.

He's a bit of a chunk.

LEO CRIES
Oh, here he is, right on cue!

Even though my grandfather's
here in spirit,

He's also here in baby name.

He's going to grow
with the structure now

as it starts to come out
from the foundation. Hang on!

We'd better be in before
he's walking!

Yeah!

Crawling. Crawling.

Just as well then,
that the first concrete walls of

the bedroom wing are ready
to be admired.

Oh, my God.

It's nice, isn't it? Yeah, that
is absolutely amazing. Feel it.

Touch it.

Yeah, it's lovely, isn't it?

So soft, it's incredible.

I'm so excited for the whole...

Do you like it Leo?

It's going to be your nursery.

Compared to brick and mortar,
it's about ten times the price.

You get what you pay
for, though, I suppose.

I just want to get it finished now,
get in here and live here with him.

Do you know what I mean?
We've obviously sold the house

and moved in with Rosa's mum
now, so it's more of a reason

to get this done on time

and kind of move in and have
our own space with Leo.

By May, a mere six weeks
since Darren's team started,

the concrete extension is complete.

So, what does Rosa's mum,
Tessa, make of it?

Who would ever have thought
that that has been buried

for all those years?

I know. And it's part of our family

and I look at that
as the older generation.

Then what's to come is, you know,

represents the new life,
the next generation kind of thing.

Exactly,
because my heart is in here.

Yeah. I look at that...

..and I can't quite feel

the connection
what I feel to this building.

Now, what do you think Leo,

were he around now,
would think of this?

Oh, my goodness he would have
probably thought like me.

Yeah. I mean, I'm sure Leo
wouldn't perhaps have liked that.

Just looks like, um, a bunker.

Ever more pressure, then,
on getting the renovation

of Leo's beloved reservoir right.

Rosa and Craig are going
to have to make this place

true to Leo somehow.

Over 18 months

since Rosa and Craig began their
Herefordshire reservoir project,

the concrete extension is being
buried under 200 tonnes of earth.

Lift your end up there Craig.

Meanwhile, the reservoir's
transformation into

a serious bit of contemporary
architecture kicks off

with the installation of
the first-floor steel frame.

It'll be the jewel in the crown
of the new reservoir,

creating the dramatic entrance,
the bridge,

and the steel staircase
to the living space below.

The pressure's now on for Rosa,
Craig and baby Leo

to move in in six months.

Until then, they're living
with Rosa's mum, Tessa.

That looks like chocolate!

Oh, I know - it looks like them
gold bullions, doesn't it?

Oh, no. Oh, no.
Oh, that's disgusting.

It's proving to be a bit of
a squeeze.

I'd have tiles.

We're not having tiles.

We've gone through that.
It's not your house.

No. True.

You can't have tiles, can you?

No. We're so grateful,

but at same time we are living
on top of each other.

It's very...

Every conversation
is a three-way conversation.

You can have garden floor tiles.

We don't like any.

Well, use ordinary bricks.

We've just covered that
about two minutes ago!

It will be so great
to have our own space.

I do also think
how we're going to afford

to get to the end of the build,

and whenever I speak
to Craig about it,

he always says
that's "future us" problems.

Money worries are
a big part of their lives now.

They're spending 50 grand alone

on the reservoir's
new steel-framed roof,

being fabricated 15 miles away
in Hereford.

Oh, my God. That is very thick.

That's pretty big, isn't it?

I don't think the roof's going
anywhere any time soon with those.

Is this a roof or a bunker?

I reckon we could survive
a hurricane with that roof

the way it's been built.

Yeah, that's where
your money's gone.

Indeed.

Financing a 950 grand project,

PLUS fees,
is starting to take its toll.

So, that's where we're at
with the figures.

It's pretty sickening - 720,000 -
and we've got no windows or doors.

Or roof! Or roof.

I've got no windows door,
or a roof for that!

You know when like you've
always said,

this is "future us" problems?

I feel like "future us"
is now current us.

There's nothing we can do.
We can't change anything now.

Like you say, we are fully committed
but it's spiralled.

We could have bought three houses
for that.

I just don't see how we've
spent that much money.

But proper architecture
rarely comes cheap.

Come the autumn, the roof's curved
steel frame is ready to go in.

With the help of
the odd podger or two.

A podger is a marvellous invention.

It's a pointy spanner,

so when you've got sort of
half a hole lined up,

you can put podger in and just use
it to wiggle the steel around

and align the hole, so the bolts
slide straight through.

Looks wonky.
It does look wonky, doesn't it?

I was actually just thinking that.

Maybe it's just
the way we're looking at it.

If you stand at this angle,
it looks all right.

By November, almost two years
since they began this scheme...

Inside's amazing, honestly.

..the reservoir's vaulted
roof has been skinned out

with plasterboard, to epic effect.

Oh, my word!

A world of pink! Yeah, look at it!

What do you call this area?
Airborne snug?

Airborne snug. Somewhere to sit and
watch the sun go down, isn't it?

Yeah. Yeah, I mean it's lovely.

Have a coffee in mornings up here,
looking out there.

Yeah, for sure.

It's amazing, like, how your
love for the building

and everything changes,

and how it's actually progressed,

with how the building has come on -

you form a different connection
with it.

That's what I feel - we formed
a new connection as a family,

the way that it's started
to come together now,

and even though it's
the shape of the old reservoir,

we've almost put
our own take on it.

Of course,

Rosa and Craig won't be moving
in by Christmas as they

dearly hoped - the house
is nowhere near watertight yet.

But that's the least
of their worries.

So, how is the money?

As in, how much it's
going to cost to finish? Yeah.

250,000 I believe.

It's all within your reach, this?
You can afford it all?

There's still a deficit
of about 50,000

because the kitchen and bathrooms
weren't in the contract,

so we've had to pay for that
on top of contract.

We've used the mortgage money
to pay for that,

which means that when it gets to
last month of paying for the site,

we're going to have to have
around 50,000 to pay for that.

That problem's eight, 12 weeks
away, so... Oh, right.

See, this is part of the curse
with legacy, isn't it? Yeah.

That you inherit something
very beautiful,

and you have to honour it.
Yeah. And you have to do something

properly because
the site demands it.

If I'd known how much
this was ever going to cost

in the first place,
we'd have never done it.

But we're committed now.

Live with our decisions.

Alas, the project is entering
its perilous phase.

Right, let me boom out.

86 grand's worth of hi-spec glazing

starts getting installed
in December.

If I move that back now, it's going
to pull the top out as well.

We want to start bringing
it back up now, don't we?

The picture window for
the living space is the largest.

While between the reservoir's
original brick piers,

12 rectangular slot windows
are going in.

Yep, right. To your right.

Meanwhile, on top of the now
insulated steel roof,

they're fitting new
curved aluminium sheets

to match the reservoir's
original ones.

But, come the new year,

green shoots on site
bely troubling news.

Rosa and Craig
have run out of money.

We couldn't pay one of the bills
which we owed the builders.

There was a misunderstanding around
the VAT situation for the build.

Last month, just before Christmas,

we were told that the whole build
would have to pay 5% VAT -

about 50,000 that
we've had to find on top.

They've been forced to borrow an
additional 80 grand from the bank.

But there's so much this
won't cover - oak flooring

and a balustrade for
the mezzanine,

the steel stairs, decorating,

and the courtyard landscaping.

The amount of debt that
we've taken on is horrendous.

I never thought I'd take
on this amount of debt

to be able to finish the project.

It's actually sickening.

For the whole time of
the build this has been

the most stressful point for us.

1843 and 1840 we've got.

You don't want it tight tight,
do you?

One, two, three...

One thing they can still afford
is the curved glazing

for the reservoir's gable ends,

which means the building
is finally watertight.

And Rosa, Craig,
and no-longer-a-baby Leo,

are able to move into the far from
complete home.

It's not ideal.

Come on, climb under!

It does make me more aware
of time passing

because Leo is growing up

and I feel like the build
is at a standstill.

Your priorities in life change.
As Leo's come along,

I'm more focused now
on spending time as a family,

doing this with Leo,
and not thinking,

"I need to paint that
wall tonight or today."

But painting
is exactly what they have to do.

It's fun though, isn't it?
It's fun painting.

And lots of it.

Tickle tickle on his tummy!

It's not how
it was meant to turn out.

And we still look at the amount
we've got to do on the house,

and we don't have the money
to finish it at the moment -

having that looming over us
is quite... Yeah, it's daunting.

But, come the summer of 2023...

Yeah, forward.

..there's a sudden flurry
of activity.

A steel staircase with oak treads
is being fitted in the reservoir.

And the courtyard
is getting landscaped.

So, we went to our family

to try and get more money basically
and everybody's chipped in.

That's going to allow us
to finish the project

hopefully to a decent standard.

And to save money,
Craig's getting stuck in as well.

The builders wanted
25,000 to fit the flooring

and by doing it myself
and using my friends to help me

with the labour, I think I've
bought it in at about 14,000, so...

That's better, isn't it? Yeah.

It's been nice to be able to get
my dad, who's an engineer as well,

to actually come up
and give me a hand

and do the flooring with me.

It's hard work - I think
he's found that out today.

I have put oak flooring down
in my own house

but nothing like
the thickness of this.

This is another level.
This is industrial level.

It's been that long since
we started,

I just want to enjoy
the house and relax now.

Looks amazing, doesn't it? Yes.

After three and a half
tortuous years,

will grandad Leo's legacy
finally be realised?

This secluded corner
of Herefordshire is magnificent

and it's where Rosa and Grandad Leo

long ago dreamt of transforming
their abandoned

and much-loved railway reservoir
into a home.

It's nearly four years since Rosa

and her partner Craig
set out to do just that,

so has the reservoir's radical
reinvention finally come good?

Well, I could swear

that when I first came here all
those years ago that roof was green.

Of course, it was green.
That's a new roof!

That's not an industrial structure
any more. That is a new building.

Yet one that,
in honour of its heritage,

looks from outside much like it did
when I first came here.

Well, I say it's a new building,
but actually I think the brickwork

and stonework, that was always here.

And, as for the roof, I mean it's an
exact reproduction in crinkly tin.

So, this building,
it appears really, really modest.

Until you turn the corner,

and then it starts getting
really interesting.

Look at that.

The great, curving black shapes
of the roof gables

now form a powerful viewing frame
for the landscape.

And they tease glimpses of
the interior too.

Hello, you two.

Hi! Look at you. Look at your house!

You must be dead chuffed.
Yeah, so happy.

It's so nice to be in and finished.

We have to pinch ourselves
when we pull up on the drive

and walk down here
and get that view every single day.

Yeah.
Yeah. It doesn't feel real.

It doesn't feel like an old
building. It feels like a home.

Interesting. It feels like
we've lived there forever.

Like it was completely meant to be.

Well, look, congratulations,

because there's something about
this building which I think

is very spectacular, which bears
no relation to how it was.

And that is that you can look
through what appears to be

a glass building,
supporting a tin roof.

It's very simple,
but it's very, very elegant.

It's like a sort of black rainbow.

The curved roof's amazing
and it looks amazing -

even better inside as well.

Well, come on then.
Let's have a look inside.

Oh.

Oh...wow!

That's epic.

It's so clear and clean.

Beautiful sheer surface.

To have this sort
of uninterrupted view

without kind of bracing
or anything like that -

just this curve of the roof.

But there's plenty of fun here,

I mean, the balustrade is just
a transparent piece of glass,

nothing else.

And that thing -
the magnificent ballcock...

And actually, it's
a really weird talking point.

Everybody that comes round
asks about it,

and it's just a reminder
of what the building once was

and what it has become now.

It's actually quite nice
when you come in here -

people don't even see
the staircase because of this view,

it draws the eye
almost across the bridge.

Yeah, it's like a runway
this, isn't it?

Kind of inviting you to land.

Taking you to...what's this
place called?

Takes you to the airborne snug.

Airborne snug. That's very nice.

It's all about that
uninterrupted view out.

Brilliant.

This is my favourite spot
of the house

because I can see where
my grandad grew up.

I can see where my mum grew up.

Goodness me.
So it's so meaningful.

I just don't think
there can be many families

who can look out of their window

and have these memories planted
into the landscape

and associated with it.

It stops just being
a beautiful place

and becomes a meaningful place,
doesn't it? Yes.

When he was cleaning out
the reservoir,

this is where he used to sit
and have his lunch every day.

So, this was his part of the
reservoir,

so that is why
it's also so important.

Yeah, wow. Feel the energy, eh?

I do miss him so much.

But there's so many reminders
every day.

The mezzanine triumphs in honouring
this family's personal history,

but how has their architect,
Chris Loyn, fared

in transforming
the reservoir's once dark,

dank lower reaches
into something habitable?

OK. Down we go. The next chapter.

My goodness me!

It's another world down here,
isn't it?

I thought it would feel
a little bit subterranean

but it's the opposite.

You come down and the building
actually opens out more.

And not a hint that you're in any
way buried. It's really terrific.

This space is better than
I ever imagined it to be down here.

I think having that double height
space makes it as well,

having the open air, being able to
see the roof from down here still.

Yeah. That's an important point,
isn't it?

If the bridge were a mezzanine,

if it were covering
half of the ceiling,

you wouldn't get the light in
from the ends,

or from the both sides,
from these clerestory windows.

It would be darker.

And that marble. My goodness me!

Where's that from?

I mean, which weird mountain?

I think it's Italian.
It is Italian. Yes, yes.

In the black bat mountains,
somewhere!

The Urals, whatever it is.
It's crazy, isn't it?

I love it. It's so striking.

And it really gives you the
wow factor when you walk down.

What's really interesting, though,

is that sometimes people
take old buildings

and they do them up and they kill
the building. You know what I mean?

But here, what Chris has done
is basically just knock

the building around,
punched big holes in the side walls,

create open garden spaces
where there were none,

and yet still the building says,
"No, I'm still here".

It's as if Chris knew what
the buried power

of the old structure was -

knew it needed the courtyard
to humanise it,

and the new connecting spaces
like the dining room.

It's very generous, you know?

It is, isn't it?
It's the connection point.

Yet, the most startling views
are out,

back to the reservoir,
to the stone walls,

so carefully repointed.

And to the superb courtyard garden.

Well, what a delight that is.

You've put these great gabions in,
a wall of them.

Yeah. 11 metres of gabion baskets.
Oh, wow!

All that stone came
out of here when we dug out.

Seriously?

I have to remind myself that
a whopping 3,000 tonnes of stone

and earth were excavated
to make way for the courtyard

and the concrete extension.

So, down the corridor

into this - this is properly
the new wing, isn't it?

Yes. All in poured concrete.

It's sheer and perfect.

Like a hotel.

THEY CHUCKLE

Rooms off here include a spare room,

and, of course,
a bedroom for the toddler, Leo.

But the highlight
is Rosa and Craig's.

This is your room at the end, yeah?
Yeah.

Oh, with its own walk-in...

What's that? A kind of
rainy-shower... It's built in.

Yeah. Yes, it's rainfall.

Wow, and what's the other side?
Is that the loo, is it?

Yeah, that's the toilet. Nice.

I do love this room.

It's the most concrete
that you can see in any room.

We just walked in here and were
like, you can't cover that up.

Ha. It's too good!
Yeah, it's too good. We love it.

Yeah, yeah. No, this is generally
a better quality

than you find in
your average car park,

and I'd be really happy waking up
to that in the morning.

And you step out onto a beautifully
polished concrete floor.

This is super glamorous,
particularly this side,

you know? I mean,
in fact the whole thing is bloody,

super glamorous the moment
you walk in. It's glamorous!

There's so many things
that make you feel...

just better and more... Do you
know what I mean? More... Yes.

I'm just happy to be in here,
and living here, just enjoying it.

Yeah.

Sitting back and taking it all in.

Remarkably, they've done it.

Thanks in no small part
to Grandad Leo,

whose generosity
contributed so much

to the construction
of this remarkable home.

Leo, he loved this building.

He knew every stone
in this building.

He lived and he breathed it.

So, what do you think he would
have made of it now?

He would have been absolutely
over the moon with it.

When we last talked, you were quite
dismissive of the concrete.

I was, but now I understand.

It represents our family.

I feel that Leo and I
are in this old bit,

and I feel that, tucked in
beside it there... Yeah.

..looks a cheeky building
with a big smile on its face

and it's shining,
and it reminds me of Rosa,

and it reminds me
of how Rosa and Craig met,

captured each other's hearts.

And along came Leo.

Yeah. And I think the courage
and determination that

they have shown
to see this building through

is absolutely wonderful.

I am so proud of them.

They've given this building
its life back.

And what greater gift
can you give than that?

Yeah. Indeed.

But my, pulling it off has exacted
its toll on Rosa and Craig.

Nearly four years to get
to this point -

three more than anticipated,

and a stomach-churning
financial burden.

First of all, congratulations
for finishing

because I think anybody
who can finish a house these days

is a miracle worker.
Thank you.

Tell me though about the money.

You thought originally 700,000.

I think build cost alone
is just over a million.

Plus, all your prelims

and your architect's fees
and your engineers...

That takes us up to about
£1.2 million I think,

including that. Yeah.
And a mortgage of 600 and...

600,000. We then borrowed
another 80,000.

Put in about 100,000
of our own money.

Then unfortunate circumstances
around Rosa's grandad passing away

helped us basically to finish build.

So, were you able to make up
all that you needed,

thanks to Leo, or have you had
to go elsewhere as well?

We've had to go elsewhere as well!

Every friend and every family member
on both sides of the family.

Yeah.

So, you're spending a few grand
a month at least on your mortgage.

Yeah, it's a ridiculous amount
of money.

It's way more than we ever thought
we would spend or wanted to spend.

It's horrendous,
because I think if you'd said to me

four or five years ago,

this is the amount of money
that you're going to spend,

I would have said, "No. No way."

It's not a decision we've made
lightly, having to get ourselves

in this much debt,
but it's worth it, definitely.

Yeah. It's so nice
having our own bubble here.

It really does feel like that.

Seeing how happy little
Leo is running around...

Just getting to chase him
and see his face.

I'm just like, this is it -
this is why we've done it, I think.

Yeah. And actually,
little Leo is starting to learn.

We tell him about my grandad,

and we actually tell him about
the buckets of slurry that he dug.

And we've got a picture
that my grandad wrote of it.

And actually, if you ask Leo,
he'll say, "Grandad did that".

Thanks to Rosa and Craig's
epic efforts,

the family's relationship
with this beguiling landscape

has been safeguarded, with a home.

You know as long as
I've known this project,

I've thought there's
a problem associated with it,

to do with the fact that it was
Leo who planted

the original idea in Rosa's mind

that something magical
could be done with this site.

And, as a consequence,
I think she felt the burden

of having to do something
important here, of remembering him.

Of honouring his memory
in architecture,

and producing
something of real worth.

And you know, in doing that,

it nearly broke her and Craig
financially.

But I'm so pleased they succeeded.

I'm so pleased they finished.

Because what it does so brilliantly
is not simply

remember the man whose idea it was,

but also embody
the imagination of Craig and Rosa.

Amazing what families can do,
isn't it?

The house is about the site. A
treehouse concept we've gone for.

There seems to be
a serious design error somewhere.

I'll be interested to know
who's expected to pay for it.

I've literally just
run out of money now.

If somebody says to me,
"I need some money",

I think I'm going to have to do
a few little delaying tactics.

Things can run away very quickly
if you don't keep control.

So when do you think you'll be in?

About ten years.

Oh, that's nice!