It's been 25 years since the hugely popular property TV show Grand Designs first aired on Channel 4. The show, hosted by Kevin McCloud, takes viewers on a journey as couples build their dream homes.
Since the show first hit our screens in 1999, over 100 spectacular building projects have captivated viewers. In addition to showcasing some of the most unique family homes in Britain, there are now international versions of the programme with Grand Designs Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and Finland.
As well as being a chance to nosey around some of the nation's fanciest bespoke home, the success of Grand Designs is down to the journey the show takes the viewer on. Each episode sees the client battle to take their dream home from the drawing board to actual bricks, timber, concrete and steel.
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Along the way, they face an uphill task against weather conditions, lack of money, competing visions, and planning bureaucracy. There have even been times when the biggest hurdle has been relationship breakdown or personal tragedies.
To help celebrate 25 years of Grand Designs, we've chosen five homes based in or near Greater Manchester that have appeared on the show. Let us know in the comments which episode was your favourite.
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Curved glass and timber home - South Manchester, (2022)
Viewers were left gob-smacked after watching couple Colin and Adele's journey to design and construct the home of their dreams in south Manchester. Having grown up in the prestigious area of Hale, which has become a hotspot for Manchester footballers and TV personalities, the pair wanted to buy a family home there.
But with the average house price in the area around £797,000, Colin and Adele settled for 'the only place in the area they could afford' and bought a house with the intention of knocking it down to rebuild their dream home.
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The couple planned to build an eye-catching 'glass and wood curved' structure designed by a Swedish architect that would become their family home. However, during the eight-year long process to build their dream home, the couple faced contractor issues, delays due to the coronavirus pandemic and financial stress.
Despite the many disasters and delays, the home was eventually completed in 2021 - eight years after they began planning it - with the couple going a whopping £1 million over their initial budget.
Arriving at the huge, eye-catching house, presenter Kevin said: "It looks like a timber-clad Scandinavian space-ship has landed and I am docking with it."
Grand Designs viewers were completely were left completely stunned when Colin revealed that the total cost of their home was £1.7 'and a bit' million pounds.
Steel longhouse - Derbyshire (2022)
This episode in 2022 saw a couple from Derby build their dream home in the Derbyshire Dales. The project followed Mike and Sarah as they attempted to build a stunning modern interpretation of a traditional longhouse.
At the start of the episode, presenter Kevin McCloud met Mike and Sarah in their home in Derby, where they had lived for eight years so their daughters would be able to walk to school. But now the kids had left home, they wanted to move out of the city and live in their dream home in the countryside.
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So they bought some land in the Dales and planned to create a modern version of a traditional Derbyshire longhouse, a long farm building that follows the line of the hill. They discovered that 26 previous planning applications on the land had been rejected, but, undeterred, commissioned an architect to design something so special that permission would be granted.
The design they ended up with incorporated a steel roof that would be shaped to mirror the rise and fall of the hills behind it. They hoped to have the build completed in 12 months, at an estimated cost of £945,000. That's on top of the £250,000 they spent on the land itself.
But, as is often the case with complex building projects, things didn't go smoothly. There were difficulties building the irregularly shaped steel frame, meaning that more material than expected was needed, upping the costs by £55,000. There was also a family tragedy when Mike's father Robin, who was due to move in with the couple, died.
After the completion date was pushed back to 2022, the home was finally finished. They were left with a huge steel building that looked strikingly modern yet fitted in nicely with the countryside around it, partly thanks to the roof matching the line of the hills.
Peak District: Post-Industrial House - Youlgrave, Derbyshire (2017)
This episode, which first aired back in 2017, saw Ecologist Fred Baker and his wife Saffron build their "forever home" in the village where Fred grew up in the Peak District. But the journey to transform the former derelict hill top dairy farm into a modern home burrowed into a steep limestone hill was a difficult one.
A battle for planning permission, a failed mortgage bid, spiralling costs and inclement Derbyshire weather - not to mention a 30 degree slope - meant the build eventually took a staggering 16 years to go from conception to completion.
The main issue was that building the unique three-storey property involved excavating 800 tonnes of ancient limestone. But it proved to be a labour of love and the couple were eventually delighted with their "earth shelter".
Ultra-Modern House - Bolton (2016)
This episode which aired in 2016 saw Paul and his wife Carol create a 'fortress-like' home on the edge of the Pennine Moors on the outskirts of Bolton. The couple had a budget of 350k and a tight 15 month schedule to finish the timber built, eco-friendly home.
The project was hampered by torrential rain and freezing temperatures, but just as progress was starting to be made the money ran out. Six years later, presenter Kevin McCloud returned to the home which was finally finished in an episode of Grand Designs Revisited in 2022.
The family home finished a massive £200,000 over budget, but the couple felt the project was finally worth it.
The Water-Works - Chesterfield, Derbyshire (2003)
This episode first featured on the hit Channel 4 property show more than 20-years ago. Leanne Smith and Chris Jones had their hearts set on converting a disused waterworks in Derbyshire into a dream home.
The mammoth project saw the couple transform the former pumping station owned by Severn Trent Water into a modern family home without sacrificing its period details. The end result was a quirky mix of vintage and modern, complete with four bedrooms, underfloor heating and a cinema projector.
According to the property website Rightmove, the house was sold in 2016 for £700,000.
