Grand Designs has been one of the most popular property programmes on television since making its debut on Channel 4 in 1999.
Produced by Boundless Productions, it's hard to believe that we've been glued to our TV screens for two decades watching fearless people battling the elements, the budget, and sometimes the builders, to imagine, create, and bring to life an incredible home that is worthy of the show's title.
Fronted by Kevin McCloud the programme documents the struggles of these homeowners with dreams, who are usually behind schedule, over-budget and living in a leaky static caravan onsite during the wettest/coldest/ windiest winter on record (delete as appropriate).
And don't we just love it.
After all the strife and stress, and with the homeowners' painful journeys captured forever on camera, the 'unveilings' at the end of each episode usually reveal staggering buildings that few of us mere mortals could even imagine, let alone build.
But what happens when the cameras leave and the exhausted homeowners actually get to live in their Grand Designs?
We catch up with the people behind three iconic Welsh Grand Design homes which have all been on their own journeys since the cameras stopped rolling.
Eco-home in Pembrokeshire
One of the most incredible Welsh Grand Designs stories was brought to us by Simon and Jasmine Dale, who hand-built an ecological home in Pembrokeshire as part of a growing community of self-sufficient homeowners.
The programme captivated viewers with the couple’s abundant creativity, inventiveness and pure commitment to how they had always envisaged they would live - in an eco-friendly self-build house surrounded by working land to support them including generating their own power.
The couple began their Grand Designs project in earnest in 2013 but the programme about the development of their nine acre smallholding didn't air until 2016, such was the enormity of the task ahead.
With only £500 in the bank, Simon and Jasmine were determined to achieve their goal of being self-sufficient within five years. The home itself took six years to build.
Outside, the couple were also working hard to continue to develop the land into a sustainable income source plus contribute, in partnership with their neighbours, to the construction of natural power sources as part of the Lammas eco-community.
As the programme aired on Channel 4 in 2015, the couple had achieved the ambition of constructing and living in a three bedroom family home made predominantly of reclaimed materials, including glass, timber, clom, clay and even sheep's wool as insulation.
But on New Year's Day in 2018 disaster struck. Fire broke out and the home was damaged beyond repair.
Jasmine says: "We are still in shock. We left the day of the fire. We didn't go back to the site until June.
"Our friends cleared the site of all the debris and came back at key points such as pruning in the garden and the neighbours looked after the sheep.
"Our friends and neighbours were so supportive, they even set up a Justgiving page for us, and somebody we didn't even know offered their property in Tenby for us to live in temporarily straight after the fire.
"People's kindness kept us going, there were donations from local villagers to strangers from all over the world."
The Justgiving page raised £35,270 for the homeless family.
"We are devastated and we don't think we can live there anymore. Over the months we have started to consider that we should let the place go.
"In June last year we put the site up for sale, as the children are older now there is no way we would want to live back in a static caravan and start all over again."
In September the couple had strong feelings to go back to their home as it was harvest time, a very busy and productive time of the year.
Jasmine remembers: "Autumn really affected us so we reversed the decision thinking there must be some way to go back.
"So we tried to stay there Christmas but we just couldn't - we can't live in limbo, so the site is definitely for sale."
Jasmine says the local fire chief told them that the blaze was caused by a faulty appliance.
She says: "He thinks it was a heater that should have just tripped out but instead the fault reversed and started a fire in the junction box.
"He said it was a conventional fire, nothing to do with the construction of the house or the materials used, in fact the clay floor and the clom walls survived the blaze but they had to be demolished as they became unsafe. Only the interiors burned but it was sufficient enough to catch the roof."
Understandably Jasmine is still greatly affected by the fire that has shattered the couple’s dream that was becoming a reality thanks to their incredible hard work, imagination and dedication.
But they both think that life must go on and the couple have been busy since moving out of the site.
Jasmine has been writing a book called the Permaculture Design Companion which is a practical workbook that has tips and advice on how to bring your project from an idea to reality.
She also volunteers for a Food Foundation campaign called Peas Please and has been working to engage young people in the development of Pembrokeshire County Council's local development plan.
Jasmine says Simon has been designing timber frames for construction, including for workshops and kitchen extensions.
So now the site is for sale for £290,000, although it is so unique it is a challenge to value the property.
The sale includes a barn, a workshop, large horticultural glasshouses and nine acres of land which includes 1.5 acres of forest garden and plant nursery stock and 1.5 acres of private woodland, that is estimated to contain about 4000 trees.
The site also has a spring water supply and part ownership of a renewable hydroelectric supply.
Jasmine says there is current planning permission for building a home on the current footprint using predominantly natural materials but in a more conventional style, although a conversation with the local authority planning department is essential for any potential buyers.
She says: "With dedication and vision, the site can become fully sufficient and generate an income for a new owner, who understands and completely commits themselves to ethos of the eco-village."
The couple say they will forever miss the site and the grand design that they achieved.
Jasmine says: "I will miss the wonderful people, we had really bedded into the community. We went from a bare field to a home with very diverse, landscaped gardens with hundreds, if not thousands, of birds, trees, plant life and insects and we created it all from scratch.
"It's a big thing to leave it but we can build roots again, we've had experience."
For further information about the sale of the site contact the couple via their website beingsomewhere.net
Cefn Castell, Llyn Peninsula
If you watched the episode of Grand Designs in 2014 that showcased the construction of Cefn Castell, you might think that by now the property belonging to Rob and Kay Hodgson would be lying at the bottom of the adjacent cliff, such was the drama created around the stability of the surrounding geology.
Rob rather surprisingly laughs: "I understand the focus on the cliff, it was an aspect of the project and of course the production company needed to bring that aspect to the forefront of the story.
"People who pass by on the coastal path always want to chat and most of them ask about the cliff issue, but it hasn't moved. Props have been in place for years now and we've not lost any more than about 10 cm of it."
Rob says a range of experts have predicted the life of the home to be about 140 years, so that's plenty of time for Rob to continue enjoying relaxing at his favourite spot, the patio in the garden overlooking the sea.
Since the programme, the couple have enjoyed living in the ultra-contemporary glass and white-washed home.
Rob says: "As time passes you don't really appreciate it as much as when you start living here and I really should.
"Sometimes I just stop what I’m doing and am struck by the view but on a day-to-day basis you start to become custom to it. I know I am so lucky to live in such a lovely spot."
But this site was not the couple’s first choice for their new home in Wales. Originally from the Warrington area, Rob and Kay were struck by the beauty of the Llyn Peninsula and knew that this iconic Welsh location should be their new base.
For almost a year the couple were trying to buy Wern Manor to set up a sculpture park in the garden but at the last minute in 2008, when the property crash occurred, a crucial element of funding from their bank was withdrawn.
Rob remembers: "We still wanted to do something on the peninsula and my wife saw a building plot for sale, so on the spur of the moment, on a beautiful June summer's day, we saw the site and fell in love with the stunning location."
And so their sometimes stressful Grand Designs journey began.
Rob says he would recommend to other potential Grand Designs contributors to appear on the show, although he thinks there are disadvantages as well as advantages.
He says: "It adds pressure at a time when you've got a lot on but the production team were all very lovely and supportive.
"I would say go into it with your eyes wide open and remember the crew are in the business of constructing a watchable show and they want a story so you need to be sure that, whatever comes out, whether you like it or not, it will be part of the story.
"There's no editorial control and that's fine because it's their job, it's not a criticism of your build, it's just the story.
"They don't give you money to spend on the build but appearing on the show does mean you can strike deals with larger suppliers, maybe get discounts and barter for things like the roofing system and windows, as larger companies are keen to get publicity and the stories that come out from their product appearing on the show.
Rob says, apart from the cliff issue, the most popular question people ask him since the show is 'What is Kevin McCloud really like?'.
Rob reveals: "Kevin is very charming, very clever, and knows an awful lot about property.
"He is a very approachable guy, he's exactly the guy you see on the TV, just a regular guy who turns up in jeans with a rucksack on his back."
Since appearing on the show in 2011 Rob has set up his own company called Inspire Presenting and Writing, which trains people from wide-ranging organisations to exploit the power of the spoken word when delivering live presentations.
But since the show he's also had a nagging itch to plunge the couple back into property development.
He says: "It's a bit like having a baby, for the first six months you say you are never going to do that again, then the thought creeps in and keeps growing, so maybe I have one more left in me."
There are no regrets from appearing on the show and how the couple's lives have changed since living at Cefn Castell.
Rob comments: "We knew we were taking a risk for lots of reasons including coming up with a design that we couldn't afford.
"It was a very difficult site and a very difficult project, but architect John Boardman and Ian Hunt and his building team at Innerworld have created a house that has proved to be fantastically well built with no problems at all.
"So all I can say is sometimes you have to take that risk, create something that bit special that we now get so much from; it was worth the years of trauma to get here."
Kemeys Folly near Newport
One of the most memorable Grand Designs episodes showcased the restoration of the listed building Kemeys Folly, located north of Newport and overlooking the stunning Usk Valley.
Although it has been more than 10 years since the programme aired, owner Dean Berry still smiles when he sees people's first reactions to visiting the property in real-life and not through a TV screen.
He says: "There is always a jaw-dropping moment because it's hard to get the scale of the build and the 360 degree views from the programme.
"My children have always enjoyed talking about living in a castle for 'show and tell' at school, and they are a great leveller to remind you because sometimes you get used to things, you adapt to where you live. I have to stop and take in the incredible views.
"It has always been great to see the delight on children's faces whenever my kids have had friends over for a playdate - they are delighted to see that they are visiting a castle. My son still shows people the clip of him cycling up and down the corridor on the programme."
This particular grand design saw the restoration of the Grade II listed folly which is thought to date back to the 1700s. It was originally a hunting lodge for the Sheriff of Monmouth, as part of his Kemeys family estate and land, dating back to the middle ages.
The folly was a total labour of love, not just in the painstaking restoration of the listed building, but in the design and creation of the new contemporary structure and the associated stress that accompanies a grand design of this scale - all filmed for the nation to view.
Dean says: "The programme is a wonderful record of a momentous event in your life and provides a stake in the ground to aim for; for each visit that they come to film.
"So if you're going to be on the programme you need to do your homework beforehand and be organised. Any changes you make during the grand design process is being filmed and, although makes great TV, it doesn't make a great situation for you. All your challenges are included in the programme."
Dean has no regrets about appearing on the show, but says anyone thinking about it should be doing it for the right reasons.
He says: "If you want a wonderful record of the journey you're going on, then it's fantastic but it's not an opportunity to appear on TV. It's a house show, it's not Love Island. It's about the property, not you."
Since appearing on the programme the family have enjoyed living at the folly but now Dean's work commitments have changed, sending him across the globe for business on a regular basis.
He says: "When we took the house on, it was to live in it full-time. When you take on a property like this you are the legal custodian and you really need to live in it.
"I feel quite down that I don't spend more time in it. I can't justify owning it, spending so little time there, it needs to be a family home; constantly lived in.
"We've had some amazing parties here, including out on the master bedroom terrace that can hold about 100 people, overlooking the views. It's a very social house.
"I'm going to miss how versatile the house is, it's like having two houses, with an old and new wing, but there is a sympathetic juncture where they meet - where old meets new - history and modern together, it's the benefit of having your cake and eating it."
The six bedroom Kemeys Folly is on the market for £1,950,000 with Fine & Country Newport, for further information call 01633 927277.
