Channel 4 Grand Designs fans ‘in tears’ as Kevin McCloud shares update on show’s first home
Fans of Channel 4’s Grand Designs have been moved after host Kevin McCloud returned to a family home-build 25 years on.
The popular program follows the highs and lows of people embarking on ambitious building projects.
Grand Design’s premiere episode aired in 1999 and followed paragliding school owners Tim and Jules as they attempted to build their ambitious new family home.
The build, located in the East Sussex coastal town of Newhaven, was given a timeline of just three months to match the arrival of their soon-to-be-born son.
McCloud visited the couple throughout their journey which, as became standard for projects featured on the show going forward, did not initially go to plan.
On one visit, the host came to find Tim and Jules’s son, Tiger, had been born with the house barely finished.
More than two decades after the project was eventually completed, McCloud returned.
To his surprise, the empty field in which the house once sat was now a dense forest thanks to the trees planted by the couple.
However, the interior of the home was remarkably similar, with the couple maintaining the corridors’ bright green paint and the kitchen’s golden walls.
McCloud was in awe at the couple’s passion for their home and dedication to their original vision.
“We seem addicted to remodeling our homes and here is a couple content with what they have,” the host declared.
Jules explained: “We made a decision that after the house was built, I didn’t want to do that all again.”
Still very happy, the couple said there was “never any reason to go anywhere else”.
McCloud also had a chance to meet the couple’s son, Tiger, now an adult and following in his family’s footsteps as a paragliding instructor.
Tiger is also a published children’s author, writing about his experience growing up in a natural paradise cultivated by his parents around their home.
Fans were quick to praise the nostalgic episode on social media.
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On X, formally known as Twitter, one fan was “crying their eyes out” at how Tim and Jules’s home had evolved with the family.
On Instagram, another said: “What an episode. Warmed my heart, lovely people, beautiful home and a beautiful story.”
A third called it: “Probably my favourite episode ever.”
“Real people with real budget creating a beautiful home for their family. loved it,” added a fourth. (sic)
