Wouldn't it be grand
I
thought I’d write about my favourite television program
of the week. Yes even more than Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares
or Desperate Housewives, the show I most look forward
to is Grand Designs… on ABC1 at 6.05pm on a Thursday…
and there’s an earlier series shown on Tuesdays at 11.00am.
What I love about this show is the dreams that fuel
it.
Kevin McLeod is the host and he can speak several
European languages, an impressive addition to his passionate love
for the subject and obvious regard for his subjects - both human
and material.
Every episode Kevin follows the journeys of people
who want to build their dream house. From modest budgets to magnificent,
every design has vision and a story behind it. And no build is
without its challenges.
We watched an episode of an Irish couple who were
building an LA inspired mansion on a steeply sloping block. Today’s
was of an English couple in Tuscany, lovingly restoring a derelict
castle having coped with 4 years of Italian bureaucracy. One of
my favourites was an older couple building a Roman inspired guesthouse
in Southern Italy for just 19,000 pounds. Extraordinary and inspiring,
and another of a couple who’d lived in a shed for over 13
years, who built this fantastic house out of wood - a bespoke
kit home from Norway. It was beautiful.
Bespoke is one of Kev’s favourite words.
Now we may never build our own home - in many ways
I can’t think of anything worse - but watching these people
turn their dreams into brick and wood and mortar is inspiring.
It’s a program of hope. Maybe that’s why I love it
so much. Great to watch such positive energy, to absorb it through
our telly.
Everytime I watch this show I think “You know
what? We should do this show in Australia.” I’d have
like to have seen it done on the house opposite us for example
or my cousin’s house… both amazing houses… and
they must be the tip of the iceberg.
After all - building your own home is the Australian
Dream.
The question is who would be the host - could there
be another Kevin McCloud somewhere down under?
Cellobella
