Grand Designs have shared their reaction to the latest episode of Grand Designs, which saw presenter Kevin McCloud take a walk down memory lane to revisit the show's first-ever build featured in 1998. During that time, couple Tim and Jules were hoping to turn around a home in three months, before the arrival of their fifth child.
Speaking about the couple, Kevin said: "Has it survived this seaside location and the fierce weather here? Has it coped with their burgeoning family? So I've come back for New Haven to revisit that first story." The show revealed footage from 1998, which showed a young Kevin introducing Tim and Jules.
While revisiting the 1998 build, the latter part of the show revisited the couple, who are still living in the beautiful home which they estimated would cost them around £60-70,000 to build after purchasing the land for an additional £80,000.
The show reveals how the planted trees have now grown to help protect the house, with Kevin saying: "Jules and Tim have created an amazing forest here." Upon seeing the house, he said: "This is amazing… 25 years worth of stuff and life, it's beautiful."
Speaking about their house, Jules said: "What we discovered was in the winter gales, the cedar cladding wasn't up for the job so the answer was to tile… that's worked well. And the sleepers - which was your idea - has kept so much mad out of the house."
The couple also revealed that their girls loved growing up there, and would sleep on the deck every night for almost a year at one point. The couple now have five grandchildren combined.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, to discuss, one person wrote: "Are you normal or did you just cry your eyes out watching #GrandDesigns about some luscious green trees that have grown in 25 years."
Another person added: "Just watched the first ever #GrandDesigns and they haven’t changed much in the house in 25 years and are so happy there. It’s the most perfect, wholesome build I’ve ever seen on this and they got lucky that the first one was so real and genuine."
A third person wrote: "Sounds like a great couple, not like some of the full of it Grand Designers with bucket loads of money, and a great house and the surroundings lovely." Others were shocked that 25 years had passed since the start of the show, writing: "What a fantastic episode of #GrandDesigns tonight, and at the same time a sobering reminder that the years keep coming and they simply do not stop coming."