A four storey water tower that has gone on the market for £200,000 has been mocked online by fans predicting it could fall victim to the ‘Grand Designs curse’.
The huge concrete enclosure offers stunning panoramic views of the Yorkshire countryside as well as a lavish garden that is sure to make any neighbour jealous.
Nestled in the ‘ever sought after’ village of Wheldrake, just outside York, the property is a stone’s throw away from the local primary school, while the village pub is just a few metres down the road.
But the listing, from Ashtons Estate agents, has drawn bemusement from people online, who fear it could feature in a future episode of Grand Designs.
The property will seem like a blank canvas for any prospective self-builder, while the listing even states it has ‘the potential to be converted to a residential property subject to the necessary planning permissions’.
As with many projects that feature on the beloved building show, there are fears it will likely join the ranks of other ‘cursed’ properties that have fallen into chaos under the watchful eye of presenter Kevin McCloud.
‘Just needs a recently married couple and the curse of Kevin McCloud,’ one person on Reddit joked, seemingly mocking the architect’s apparent kiss of death for any ambitious renovation project.
This huge four storey water tower has gone on the market for £200,000
The huge concrete enclosure features four floors each connected by a metal ladder
The property may seem like a blank canvas for any prospective self-builder, while the listing even states it has ‘the potential to be converted to a residential property’
‘Somewhere, Kevin McCloud is salivating,’ another person jibed, while a third added: ‘Subject to planning permission? Best of luck!’
‘I saw a couple on grand designs do up a very similar building and whilst they had great plans it was a complete money hole,’ a fourth person said,. ‘You’re not making this livable for less than a mil.’
Another commenter then replied: ‘Don’t say that out loud… We want someone who thinks they can do it for £100k and some favours so we can watch the inevitable train wreck on a Wednesday night in 3 years time.’
Indeed there have been a number of similar projects to have featured on Grand Designs in recent years.
Leigh Osborne and Graham Voce pulled off one of Grand Designs’ most popular conversations after buying a former water tower in Kennington, South West London, in 2012.
They spent almost £2million converting it from a crumbling ruin into a family home, featuring nine floors and the UK’s biggest sliding doors.
The 100ft tower, which also boasts 360 degree views across the capital, featured on the popular Channel 4 series in the 100th episode of the show.
The tower was put for sale by Osborne and Voce in 2013 for £6.5million, however, the price was reduced to £4.75 in August of that year.
By the time it was sold in 2021, the property’s asking price had sunk to £2.75 million. While it was not revealed how much the new owner paid for it, it was suggested to be close to asking price.
The concrete tower offers stunning panoramic views of the Yorkshire countryside as well as a lavish garden that is sure to make any neighbour jealous
A huge four storey water tower that has gone on the market for £200,000 has been mocked online by fans predicting it could fall victim to the ‘Grand Designs curse’
But, where some see success, other see only failed dreams. As was the case with Tassy and Adam whose ambitious project to transform a water tower into a family home was slammed as the show’s ‘worst idea ever’.
Appearing on an episode last year, the couple hoped to transform the abandoned tower into a unique nine-bedroom home to live in with their three young children, complete with a swimming pool, slides, fireman’s pole and sky garden.
But by the end of the episode – and after five years’ work – the project was nowhere near completion, and all they’d achieved was building some concrete walls.
As he visited the building site, Kevin noted that the exterior hadn’t changed at all and the project appeared to have been on hold for the past two years.
Viewers were left aghast at the lack of progress and slammed the design as a ‘concrete hell’.