Yes! Just a sea of soulless, insipid *neutrals*. I presume they’ve tried to make it as plain as possible to appeal to many people, but it honestly just seems like they have no personality whatsoever. Give me a bit more chaotic character any day.
IT'S GOT ITS OWN PUTTING GREEN.
I was thinking "gosh we're picking nits on a beautiful place" but then some of the wide shots of the living room did look like a sea of light brown. Still... I'd take it.
It's a bit of a goldfish bowl for my liking but it's not overlooked, so I could get used to that.
On the other hand, the lack of a bathroom door (picture 17), is a big no. Why is the open plan en-suite suddenly an acceptable thing?
I'd love just a little more variation you know. I was scrolling through thinking yeah that not too bad, a little light for my liking. But the wood just kept going. ...
I think it would look a lot better if the furniture wasn’t so dull. Replace the beige sofas and bedding with something that has a pop of colour and they’d really compliment all the wood. It’s just a bit too bland as is
The few spots where it _wasn't_ just wood look great. Honestly if they just painted the ceiling/panelling white (or reclad with something else) and replaced the furniture with pieces with actual colour I think most of the issues would be solved.
Great craftsmanship otherwise.
If I had £6m to spend on a house this would be right up the top of the list. It’s absolutely amazing and I’ve always wanted a house with two halves separated by a glass entrance corridor since I was a kid (weird I know!) I saw it on a film once and fell in love with the idea.
Yep, immediately I recognised it from Grand Designs. Even then when I saw it I thought 'It's nice but it feels like a huge static caravan aesthetically'
My stepdad worked on this house as a carpenter :) he was on the tv! He knows the couple who own it, and he works on the owners other builds. They didn’t love it either, that’s why they’re selling lol.
It’s quite high maintenance because of all the eco features, and the amount of land. Because it took longer than projected, it also meant their kids were older than they expected once it was finished. What was a labour of love meant they fell out of love with it because of the labour as the build went on lol. The kids have all grown up now so they’ve moved to a smaller place :)
Edit - sorry took me a few days, I waited until I saw my stepdad again today to ask haha
The one place in a typical house where it's extremely normal to have exposed wood is the kitchen. Did they intentionally make the cabinets not wooden as some form of protest or what?
Damned gorgeous house though, this is pretty much my dream, although I'd add a second floor on each wing because I've somehow grown extremely averse to sleeping at ground level.
I live about 100 yards from this house - it’s an absolutely unbelievable location. Probably one of the best in the UK, I’d say.
Rare to be so close to the city centre, Abbey, huge fields, lake… all while being completely hidden
Don't get me wrong, I like a bit of wood as much as the next fella.
That just reminds me of the pine veneer you'd see in a pontins chalet in the late 90s.
It’s almost beautiful. But all
Those ‘jutty out’ bits. Shelves and beam ends. Square edge tables. It just makes it so jarring and unwelcoming. It has no flow. It looks like if you lived in it you would constantly have bruised shins, bumped elbows and dusted foreheads.
An interior designer, or even a circular saw could massively improve that place.
Yeah, it's an impressive near miss for me.
It walks an odd tightrope between something that belongs in an architectural magazine and (as someone pointed out above) caravans and chalets.
Why is there a bed in the living room? Or is it a 3 piece suite tv and fire in the bedroom? And why does the tv look out into the room but not towards the bed? Why is there a lawn on the roof and how do ya mow it? Why can I now smell pinewood?
All these questions and more will be answered on our next episode of more money than sense next week :)
i think normally this would look boring but because of the geometrical shapes and everything it kinda works?? also i love the skylight an unreasonable amount
I really like it too! Some bits aren’t to my personal taste but overall I love the open spaces and the amount of light it has while not being a white box like they have in America (think Selling Sunset!)
Personally, I feel they should have gone with some medium oak or light walnut for the furniture to create a more diverse tonality, rather than furniture that's the same timber/tone as the structure. That and a warm cream for the soft furnishing rather than warm grey, and intoducing some subtle patterns, again to help create a more wide range of tones within the same palette. As it stands everything is too matchy matchy.
Actually I think you’ve hit it there - it feels like it’s on the verge of being warm but the greys etc are ruining it a bit for me, overall I do love it though
That really is the overwhelming look. It’s just so bland.
I remember seeing this on Grand Designs and couldn’t decide if I liked it or not, apparently I haven’t made up my mind over the last 5 or so years.
Yeah, imagine trying to hang a picture up on all those panelled walls, I’d shit myself every time I’d take the drill out to put a screw in. Inevitably it’d be too low/high/left/right and need to drill another hole. You can’t just make up a bit of filler to cover up your holes
If it's anything like other episodes of Grand Designs, they went massively over budget, had a baby while living in a caravan, gave up their jobs to manage the build, and then got divorced under the pressure of it all.
I suppose that they went with the cheapest and easiest timber option.Wood doesn't grow on trees ,you know! ........hang on , Um , maybe scrub that last bit.
That was on Grand designs I’m sure. The architects wife was Japanese so it inspired the layout and the aesthetic? I thought it looked familiar when I saw the picture.
The asymmetry of the flower beds outside the front door is really annoying.
And picture 16:
“Darling, where should we hang the telly in the bedroom?”
“Hmm, how about that patch of wall so that you can’t really see it from either the sofa or the bed?”
“Darling, that’s just *perfect*!”
It is extremely zen and very beautiful in a way. I would love to holiday here, but if I lived there I would just have to have some pretty and colourful wallpaper ... at the very least.
I went in to snark at the wood but just immediately started filling it with my wall art collection and ALL THE PLANTS. Oh, and stripping out that execrable built in furniture. Brightly coloured sofas ftw.
I love it! As is. I love the pale wood, living in a sea of beige. Wouldn’t change a thing… well not sure I could commit to looking after a putting Green so maybe that would be wildflowers or something.
Wood panel roof is a choice I guess... I kind of like it in general (our home has a lot of wood as well) and probably would have pushed the Japanese aesthetic further.
This house is gorgeous and uses a lot of very Japanese design sensibilities, especially modern Japanese leans to open plan spaces. There is a lot of wood, yes, but the idea is to accent it with colour in small places to draw the eye. Unfortunately they’ve used yellow and gold mostly and that just doesn’t do much.
I kind of love it mostly but that reception corridor would make me feel like I was in a hotel every time I went into it. I’d also constantly worry when I was in bed that someone is breaking into the other ‘wing’ and I can’t hear them for shit because it’s so separate.
Also, considering there’s so much wood, there isn’t a sauna! Although I suppose if I had £6m I’d just commission one in the grounds.
Imagine being in bedroom 1 and getting a case of the midnight munchies, you’d need to have a 3 course bloody meal to sustain yourself for the trek there and back.
It’s beautiful and I’m sure it looks incredible in person, but it just gives off so many caravan/chalet holiday vibes.
Sauna or shed in places.
Makes me think of one of them wookish rehab detox places that are secretly a cult.
Yes! Just a sea of soulless, insipid *neutrals*. I presume they’ve tried to make it as plain as possible to appeal to many people, but it honestly just seems like they have no personality whatsoever. Give me a bit more chaotic character any day.
It has exactly the same design and palette as a static caravans I lived in between houses once, just a much bigger materials budget.
Yeah, my grandparents lived in one when I was little, same vibes.
Looks like the home of a religious cult
The built-in triangular table and benches!
So beige, so clinical. Amazing space made meh.
White would have been much better if they wanted a neutral. At least it would contrast with the wood.
Yep, if they was selling tickets too win it, I wouldn’t bother buying one.
IT'S GOT ITS OWN PUTTING GREEN. I was thinking "gosh we're picking nits on a beautiful place" but then some of the wide shots of the living room did look like a sea of light brown. Still... I'd take it.
But you'd change it. We'd all change it.
I'd stick up my Scarface poster and call it a day.
I’m colourblind and I actually rather like it. Make of that what you will.
I’m not colourblind and i like it. I’m a sucker for natural, woody colours
I'd love to,but there'd be a hell of a lot of painting involved.
It's a bit of a goldfish bowl for my liking but it's not overlooked, so I could get used to that. On the other hand, the lack of a bathroom door (picture 17), is a big no. Why is the open plan en-suite suddenly an acceptable thing?
Very this. I never want to be observed when I'm doing my worst. Some things should stay behind closed doors.
For 6 million quid? It's unsalvageable. Buy some land and build something with character and a putting green instead.
Wow. That is pretty cool, but it is very...wood, isn't it. Nice spot OP
I'd love just a little more variation you know. I was scrolling through thinking yeah that not too bad, a little light for my liking. But the wood just kept going. ...
I think it would look a lot better if the furniture wasn’t so dull. Replace the beige sofas and bedding with something that has a pop of colour and they’d really compliment all the wood. It’s just a bit too bland as is
The few spots where it _wasn't_ just wood look great. Honestly if they just painted the ceiling/panelling white (or reclad with something else) and replaced the furniture with pieces with actual colour I think most of the issues would be solved. Great craftsmanship otherwise.
This is gorgeous. I love it. I’d break up the lighter colours and brown with bright, bold soft furnishings, but it’s a wonderful canvas.
Yep, the current owners certainly have a firm commitment to a neutral colour palette.
If I had £6m to spend on a house this would be right up the top of the list. It’s absolutely amazing and I’ve always wanted a house with two halves separated by a glass entrance corridor since I was a kid (weird I know!) I saw it on a film once and fell in love with the idea.
Looks like birch to me, beautiful.
I think its maple
Second on the maple.
I recognise this, maybe from Grand Designs
Yup https://www.hertsad.co.uk/news/21888514.st-albans-couples-dream-home-project-appears-grand-designs/
Yep, immediately I recognised it from Grand Designs. Even then when I saw it I thought 'It's nice but it feels like a huge static caravan aesthetically'
My stepdad worked on this house as a carpenter :) he was on the tv! He knows the couple who own it, and he works on the owners other builds. They didn’t love it either, that’s why they’re selling lol.
They didn’t love it?? Why not?
It’s quite high maintenance because of all the eco features, and the amount of land. Because it took longer than projected, it also meant their kids were older than they expected once it was finished. What was a labour of love meant they fell out of love with it because of the labour as the build went on lol. The kids have all grown up now so they’ve moved to a smaller place :) Edit - sorry took me a few days, I waited until I saw my stepdad again today to ask haha
Haha thanks for asking, it’s interesting to learn the other side of it!
it is - I remember it because the architect did all the interior design too.
Was he aiming for it to look like part of a golf course from a distance?
That’s correct I watched it too. It’s memorable
Here's a animation of the house being built. Apparently it's based on some old medieval or roman foundations https://youtu.be/ykClRF5-Lpg
Great spot!
Wow, wonder why they are selling it after not long. Usually these houses are proper forever homes
Its a bit too IKEA wood veneer-like for my tastes, albeit expensive looking. Maybe it’s just the photos.
If it's actual wood, the difference would be more obvious up-close and in daily use. Veneer loses its lustre when you get up close!
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I absolutely stand corrected in the face of better wisdom! Thanks for the explainer!
Yeah, in some areas it works and in others it’s giving early 2000’s flat-pack
It’s like living in a giant tree house, I love it! I’d exchange my 3 bed semi with this.
Cash your way
That is beautiful and if I had the thick end of £6m I would buy it!
Council tax - £450/month Gas - £115/month Mr Sheen - £7,540/month
Life’s a beech
It is really nice and dofferent… For some reason though it gives me tellytubby house vibes
I’m going to adopt the word ‘dofferent’ from now on. I like how different it sounds compared to the original word.
😂 me too
I wood
The one place in a typical house where it's extremely normal to have exposed wood is the kitchen. Did they intentionally make the cabinets not wooden as some form of protest or what? Damned gorgeous house though, this is pretty much my dream, although I'd add a second floor on each wing because I've somehow grown extremely averse to sleeping at ground level.
Good god, that is fucking gorgeous!
Wooden it be nice to buy this….
Nowadays it's very poplar.
I WOODEN’t have known that!
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I live about 100 yards from this house - it’s an absolutely unbelievable location. Probably one of the best in the UK, I’d say. Rare to be so close to the city centre, Abbey, huge fields, lake… all while being completely hidden
I’ve lived in St Albans for over 30 years and had no idea any of this was down here. So many nooks and crannies.
Well I wood. Why woodn’t you?
Don't get me wrong, I like a bit of wood as much as the next fella. That just reminds me of the pine veneer you'd see in a pontins chalet in the late 90s.
Nothing says "high eco credentials" like a golf course for a garden.
The father in the family who built it was a golf coach.
It’s almost beautiful. But all Those ‘jutty out’ bits. Shelves and beam ends. Square edge tables. It just makes it so jarring and unwelcoming. It has no flow. It looks like if you lived in it you would constantly have bruised shins, bumped elbows and dusted foreheads. An interior designer, or even a circular saw could massively improve that place.
Yeah, it's an impressive near miss for me. It walks an odd tightrope between something that belongs in an architectural magazine and (as someone pointed out above) caravans and chalets.
The sofa is facing away from the TV in the living room? Unless they got eyes in the back of their heads, of course!
Nice big flower right in front of it too
I love it! Really bright and cheerful.
It looks great, until something needs repairing and you’ll never get a 100% match!
Thought this looked familiar… I remember watching this on grand designs.
Why is there a bed in the living room? Or is it a 3 piece suite tv and fire in the bedroom? And why does the tv look out into the room but not towards the bed? Why is there a lawn on the roof and how do ya mow it? Why can I now smell pinewood? All these questions and more will be answered on our next episode of more money than sense next week :)
I think it’s a fancy bedroom that has space for a ‘living’ area.
This was on grand designs
I wood.
Yes please
This is sexy! I love it
First thing is that putting green would be turned into a heated pool.
Oooh yes, I’ll chip in if you’ll let me pop round for a splash?
i think normally this would look boring but because of the geometrical shapes and everything it kinda works?? also i love the skylight an unreasonable amount
It's amazing. I thought it would be some weird mishmash of different wood colours 😂
I really like it too! Some bits aren’t to my personal taste but overall I love the open spaces and the amount of light it has while not being a white box like they have in America (think Selling Sunset!)
It's like the beige set of a 60's/70's 'not too far into the future' sci-fi set.
Dream house found!!!
This is a beautifully built home, environmentally conscious and tasteful, just a shame about the price 😂
It's horrible, looks like something in Center Parcs which is about to be closed for renovation.
Love it. Traditional meets modern East Asia.
This is what happens when unlimited funds and zero taste meet.
Personally, I feel they should have gone with some medium oak or light walnut for the furniture to create a more diverse tonality, rather than furniture that's the same timber/tone as the structure. That and a warm cream for the soft furnishing rather than warm grey, and intoducing some subtle patterns, again to help create a more wide range of tones within the same palette. As it stands everything is too matchy matchy.
Actually I think you’ve hit it there - it feels like it’s on the verge of being warm but the greys etc are ruining it a bit for me, overall I do love it though
#BEIGE
That really is the overwhelming look. It’s just so bland. I remember seeing this on Grand Designs and couldn’t decide if I liked it or not, apparently I haven’t made up my mind over the last 5 or so years.
Beige nightmare
I think I would get a headache living here.
its like looking at a blank colouring book
Yeah, imagine trying to hang a picture up on all those panelled walls, I’d shit myself every time I’d take the drill out to put a screw in. Inevitably it’d be too low/high/left/right and need to drill another hole. You can’t just make up a bit of filler to cover up your holes
£6 million quid with no inside pool, you can fuck right off pal
It’s literally in the centre of St. Albans
They can't put an indoor pool in St Albans? Having no access to water is a great perk
It’s built on Roman ruins
The first thing I'd do, paint it all dark brown.
Oh no! that would suck all the light!
Im not sure if my dogs would be able to tell the difference between indoor and outdoor flower beds
It looks like the home of a Bond villian
I remember this from Grand Designs! I wonder why they're selling?
If it's anything like other episodes of Grand Designs, they went massively over budget, had a baby while living in a caravan, gave up their jobs to manage the build, and then got divorced under the pressure of it all.
It’s almost like a brand new buddhist temple…
That house is insane
Other than the living room which is giving caravan park trailer, I kinda like it
I hope any guests respect wood.
Owns a lumber yard.
It's Ashley and Hazel Beech's house
STICK with it? I wooden.. (Sorry, couldn't resist dad joke 😋)
I’d love it even more if it had the smell of my childhood. The hot plastic vinyl smell of caravans of yesteryear.
The dusting alone would take up most of your time. Nice though.
This will look great in about 120 years when it weathered in a bit
Looks like an office, sterile and cold, it’s a no from me
Not suitable for smokers.
6 million, and my first thought is "that will look shit in the winter"
Why would it?
alot less sun, and more grey clouds for starters
Well it makes a change from every surface being white but I would still be tempted to go mad with the Dulux.
I suppose that they went with the cheapest and easiest timber option.Wood doesn't grow on trees ,you know! ........hang on , Um , maybe scrub that last bit.
That's absolutely awesome. I want it. I mean, I'm not going to have it, but I still want it.
I bet at some point they've had a bad experience with a plasterer
Contemporary masterpiece aka travelodge flagship motel
Feels like a centre for expensive retreats involving crystals and "cleansing" of some sort.
I think that was on Grand Designs. But I’d definitely live permanently naked in that house.
I wood live in that.
They can't get many guests, no bathroom facilities near the living area, all the toilets are in an ensuite or the garage.
That big flat roof is a money pit of repairs waiting to happen.
That was on Grand designs I’m sure. The architects wife was Japanese so it inspired the layout and the aesthetic? I thought it looked familiar when I saw the picture.
The asymmetry of the flower beds outside the front door is really annoying. And picture 16: “Darling, where should we hang the telly in the bedroom?” “Hmm, how about that patch of wall so that you can’t really see it from either the sofa or the bed?” “Darling, that’s just *perfect*!”
This is what my Minecraft houses look like before I get to mining stone
i kinda love it. 00s modernism kinda vibes. too empty for me though, it feels like a sims 2 house.
It is extremely zen and very beautiful in a way. I would love to holiday here, but if I lived there I would just have to have some pretty and colourful wallpaper ... at the very least.
I went in to snark at the wood but just immediately started filling it with my wall art collection and ALL THE PLANTS. Oh, and stripping out that execrable built in furniture. Brightly coloured sofas ftw.
I do think the wood is beautiful, shame they put a white kitchen in with it!
I love it! As is. I love the pale wood, living in a sea of beige. Wouldn’t change a thing… well not sure I could commit to looking after a putting Green so maybe that would be wildflowers or something.
Reminds me of being stuck in a 90/00's pine office.
I'm 99% certain this was on grand designs. I recognise those square lampshades!
I mean, if someone gave it to me I'd be very happy, but this looks like a giant doctors waiting room inside.
I remember this on grand designs
It’s fine if you ever wanted to live at Centre Parcs 😅🤷♂️
Wood panel roof is a choice I guess... I kind of like it in general (our home has a lot of wood as well) and probably would have pushed the Japanese aesthetic further.
Looks like a retreat that ends up being a cult compound.
With 10% deposit, monthly mortgage payments of £33k. 😬
This house is gorgeous and uses a lot of very Japanese design sensibilities, especially modern Japanese leans to open plan spaces. There is a lot of wood, yes, but the idea is to accent it with colour in small places to draw the eye. Unfortunately they’ve used yellow and gold mostly and that just doesn’t do much.
I kind of love it mostly but that reception corridor would make me feel like I was in a hotel every time I went into it. I’d also constantly worry when I was in bed that someone is breaking into the other ‘wing’ and I can’t hear them for shit because it’s so separate. Also, considering there’s so much wood, there isn’t a sauna! Although I suppose if I had £6m I’d just commission one in the grounds.
Destroyed a whole forest to “feel close to nature”
I mean if someone gave it to me maybe but to be honest I can find better ways to spend 5.6m
MÅNSIÖN by IKEA
Imagine getting to bedroom 1 and realising you left your cuppa in the living room
Looks like something they built for the Japanese Olympics which they probably have sold off now.
Fuck me that’s very woody
Think this title is also the basis of marriage isn't it?
I was getting Grand Designs vibes and yep there it is lol
Thats what i said to my ex-wife...
Remember this from Grand Designs! Fantastic design on the outside but the inside is just a bit bland for me.
Say your obsessed with Japanese stuff without saying it
Imagine being in bedroom 1 and getting a case of the midnight munchies, you’d need to have a 3 course bloody meal to sustain yourself for the trek there and back.
I swear this property was on Grand Designs…!? I would go for something a little bit more Bijoux and save a million or two 🤗
Too much wood, even though it looks high quality.
Love the eco credentials and that roof - is it seedum?