A WOMAN has told of the heart-breaking reason why she spent £1million transforming her home on Grand Designs.
Rosa and her husband Craig spent the whopping sum converting a 100-year old, disused brick water reservoir on the side of a hill in Herefordshire into their new home.
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And when asked by host Kevin McCloud why they chose this spot, Rosa revealed the reason for spending so much money.
She explained the land had been in her family generations – and from her plot she can see both her mum and grandfather’s homes.
Grandad Leo always dreamt that Rosa would one day live there – and gifted the reservoir to her and her husband.
Rosa said: “The reservoir and the fields to me mean everything, all my memories from every time I finished school and having my horse up here and riding around the fields, and when I was young my grandad would take me up here every day when he picked me up from school.”
But soon the couple were given a figure of £1.4million by contractors to carry out the works needed.
Tragedy then struck, as Leo passed away suddenly – leaving Rosa even more eager to follow through with the project.
Using money from the sale of Leo’s home – they finally managed to get the ball rolling.
In the latest episode of the TV show, Kevin is seen returning to the site four years since his first visit.
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Kevin said: “The whole thing is bl**dy super glamorous, the moment you walk in it’s glamorous, there are so many things that make you feel so much better. Finally they’ve done it and in no small part thanks to grandad Leo, whose generosity contributed so much to the construction of this marvellous home.
“Rosa felt the burden of doing something important here to remember him, in honouring his memory in architecture, producing something of real worth and in doing that it almost broke her and Craig financially.
“But I’m so pleased they have succeeded, that they have finished, because what it does so brilliantly is not simply remember the man whose idea it was but also embodies the imagination of Craig and Rosa – amazing what families can do, isn’t it?”
Rosa’s mum added: “He loved this building, he knew every stone in this building, he lived and he breathed it. He’d have been absolutely over the moon with it.”
The new series of Grand Designs starts on Channel 4 on Wednesday, September 27 at 9pm.
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