Our dream home was on Grand Designs… nosey neighbours knock on our door all the time to look around | The Sun
TWO friends who live in a remarkable 10-storey converted water tower have revealed how Grand Designs fans still knock on their door for a nose around – 10 YEARS after the property featured on the show.
Jamie Hamer and his housemate Susanna have told how nosey neighbours come to their dream home in Kennington, South London, desperate to get a glimpse inside.
Avid viewers of the Channel 4 home renovation programme might remember the breathtaking Kennington water tower which featured in the 100th episode.
Built in 1867, the 100ft building boasting a 38,000 gallon water tank on top was completely run-down and full of dead pigeons when Leigh Osborne and Graham Voce bought it in 2011.
The ambitious pair bought the abandoned property for £380,000 but spent an eyewatering £2million renovating it into a luxury London home.
Since the derelict tower featured on the series in 2012 – becoming one of the most popular Grand Designs episodes to date – its inhabitants have been inundated by nosy door-knockers and photographers.
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Even 10 years later, the home's new owners, Jamie and Susanna, are suffering from curious fans of the TV show.
Jamie said: “We often get people ringing the doorbell asking if they can take a look around.
"Then some will ask where the buzzers for the other flats are. They’re surprised to find out it’s one home."
Luckily, those with prying eyes will be able to snoop around the stunning conversion this September as the home is opened to the public.
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The flashy facade – which the show's host Kevin McCloud himself described as a "jaw-dropping showstopper" – will for the first time open its doors as part of the Open House Festival.
Nosey-parkers will be able to witness the tower's beautiful 360 degree views of the capital for themselves, as well as the largest sliding doors in the UK.
Since moving in, Jamie and Susanna have added a hottub to the roof terrace and put their own spin on the Grade II listed building.
It is believed the property went for near the asking price of £2.75 million, although a spokesperson for the estate agent declined to comment at the time.
Jamie told the Evening Standard when he brought the property: “I have always been fascinated by castles and this is the closest I’ll get to owning one in central London."
“I was browsing homes across London within my price bracket on Rightmove, and when I first saw the water tower, I originally thought it had to be a joke," he added recently speaking to Rightmove.
"I remember saying, ‘there’s no way this is a real home’! And I just had to see it. As soon as I walked in, I knew I was going to buy it – I just loved it.”
The tower originally provided water to the nearby Lambeth Workhouse where more than 800 destitute families were once housed and where seven-year-old Charlie Chaplin lived with his impoverished mother.
When faced with the ambitious project in the 2012 episode, Kevin McCloud referred to the ruined building as a monster, a beast and a crumbling giant.
Judging by the volume of unexpected visitors, its ambitious buyers clearly pulled the renovation off with incredible success.
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