It’s not often gets emotional, but it all got a bit much for one guest.
Ever since Rosa was a child in the Wye Valley, inspired by Grandad , she dreamt of turning a family-owned, century-old, decommissioned steam railway reservoir into a home.
Over two decades later Rosa and her partner Craig finally set out to turn this dream into reality.
Their radical plan was to reinvent the reservoir as an unique living space.
Huge holes were to be punched through the reservoir’s flank wall to allow light to flood in, and above the kitchen in a cavernous space would be a dramatic mezzanine giving glorious views across the valley.
A new subterranean concrete extension would also contain four bedrooms and help enclose a hidden courtyard garden sitting at the heart of the house.
It was a wildly ambitious project from the start, but Rosa and Craig had hoped enthusiasm and emotional attachment to the special place would compensate for their inexperience and optimistic budget.
However, builders’ quotes came in way above the £700,000 that Rosa and Craig could just about afford, mainly through borrowing, jeopardising the entire project from the get-go.
After months of agonising though, compelled them to persevere with the project no matter what.
That turned out to be a pandemic, pregnancy, and a schedule that ballooned from 12 months to
One clip sees Rosa get especially tearful when working on the home and coming across her grandad’s old bike, as she’s reminded of him.
‘If you’d said to me, “This is how much this house is going to cost, this is how much the dream that you’ve both got is going to be…”, we would’ve said, “No, there’s just no way that we can do it”,’ she tells cameras.
‘But all that was before sadness filled their lives,’ then says in a voiceover.
The cameras cut to shots of Rosa sobbing as she sorts through her late grandad’s belongings.
‘I feel very sad because it’s all his stuff, his bike in there and everything…’, she says emotionally.
But, her love for her grandad spurs her on.
‘The desire to honour Leo’s memory suddenly becomes a powerful motivator,’ adds Kevin.
Rosa says: ‘The land, it does take on a different meaning to me.
‘I think we are doing the right thing by building his home. It’s what I always spoke about with him.
‘We are going to live there because I almost see it as his legacy.’
Kevin does then admit that he has ‘no idea’ how they can pick up the project after such huge setbacks.
So, will it all be worth it for Rosa to live in her beloved reservoir home?
Grand Designs airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 4.
