The infamous cliffside lighthouse from the “saddest ever” episode of Grand Designs is once again on the market, but this time owner Edward Short is asking for a significantly lower price.
Chesil Cliff House in Devon took 11 years to complete and put Short in a reported staggering £7 million debt but remains on the market. The doomed property was originally listed for £10 million but has since been reduced to £5.25 million.
Despite his reported troubles, Short revealed his plans to borrow another £2million to carry out yet more work.
The luxury property was first put on sale in July 2022 via Knight Frank, alongside Short’s adjacent three-bedroom annex called The Eye. But two years later, they both remain unoccupied.
Trouble struck in 2023 when the house was taken off the market as it appeared a buyer was interested, but it was ultimately re-listed with a lower price of £7.5million and the two properties were listed separately.
Just months later, the asking price reduced again to £6.5million before dropping down even further to £5.25million in January of this year.
This misfortune has plagued the house since 2011, when Short, supported by his wife Hazel and two daughters, began pursuing his “little boy’s dream” of building a lighthouse.
They demolished their family home before beginning construction on the lighthouse, which was only meant to take 18 months to complete.
But by 2019, when it featured on Grand Designs, the couple’s marriage had collapsed and they were nearing bankruptcy with nothing to show for it. Short was £4million in debt and had built The Eye to borrow money against it.
Kevin McCloud, the host of Grand Designs, said the property was still a “carcass” eight years after the couple first purchased it. He then revisited Short and the property in 2022 for a follow-up episode and was surprisingly impressed with how different things looked.
He said: “Oh my giddy aunt. Everything here is epic … How Edward has managed to finish his Bond villain’s lair is mystifying.” He also asked Short if it was worth all the stress and personal issues, to which he replied: “It’s worth it because it’s finished. It would not have been worth it had it not been finished. It would have been painful. Very painful.”
Now, the lighthouse is on Rightmove and described as a “bespoke design brought to life through impressive engineering” with plans for a helipad.
The listing reads: “The property represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take on and finish the specification and fit out of one of the UK’s most spectacularly situated coastal homes.
“The bespoke design has been brought to life through impressive engineering, with the building being anchored to the bedrock, blending whitewashed elevations with steel and glass, culminating with a lighthouse feature at one end giving almost 360-degree views of the coastline.
“The position combines privacy with a diverse range of breath-taking views, all set in around 3 acres, which includes a large area of the foreshore, a private tidal beach area and coves.”
