It’s not often that Grand Designs becomes emotional, but it all became too much for one attendee.
Rosa had a fantasy of restoring a family-owned, century-old, disused steam train reservoir into a house since she was a youngster in the Wye Valley, inspired by Grandad Leo.
Rosa and her boyfriend Craig set out almost two decades later to make this dream a reality.
Their audacious aim was to reimagine the reservoir as a one-of-a-kind residential area.
Huge holes were to be drilled in the reservoir’s flank wall to enable light to stream in, and above the kitchen, in a vast area, would be a dramatic mezzanine with breathtaking views of the valley.
A new underground concrete expansion would also include four bedrooms and help surround the house’s concealed courtyard area.
Rosa and Craig had believed that their passion and emotional devotion to the rare site would compensate for their inexperience and overly optimistic budget.
However, builders’ quotations were much in excess of the £700,000 that Rosa and Craig could only just about afford, mostly through borrowing, putting the entire project in jeopardy from the start.
However, after months of agony, some tragic news prompted them to continue with the endeavour no matter what.
That turned out to be a pandemic, many financial difficulties, a pregnancy, and a timetable that grew from 12 months to more than three years.
Rosa breaks down in one scene while working on the house and comes upon her grandfather’s old bike, which reminds her 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,’ host Kevin McCloud then says in a voiceover.
Rosa is seen weeping as she picks through her late grandfather’s stuff.
‘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.
