Who is the Hollywood mega-fan of Grand Designs? 10 things you never knew about TV’s favourite home show.
Presented by designer and writer Kevin McCloud, the British television series Grand Designs, each episode, follows different people who have set out to pursue their vision of a dream home by building it themselves.
We take a look at some interesting facts about this innovative show:
- Each episode of Grand Designs takes at least a year to film. However, one build took 10 years.
- Presenter Kevin McCloud has never seen a fully finished episode as he refuses to watch himself on TV.
- McCloud often improvises his famous monologues on the day of filming.
- He was a member of the famous Cambridge Footlights drama society alongside Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.
- He is a trained building historian and works part-time for the Society of the Protection of Ancient Buildings. He founded his own architectural consultancy HAB in 2007 (the initials stand for Happiness, Architecture, Beauty).
- 2019 will see the 20th anniversary of the inaugural episode of Grand Designs.
- McCloud was diagnosed with asthma at age 16 and is about to present the show’s first ‘healthy house’.
- In Germany the show is called Der Weg Zum Traumhaus, which translates to The Road To A Dream House.
- McCloud has only ever visited Ikea once. He bought a rug.
- Meryl Streep is a self-confessed Grand Designs “addict”.
