Grand Designs ‘saddest ever home’ split in two as £10m sale ‘misses deadlines’

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A luxury £10million home dubbed Grand Designs' "saddest ever" property has hit the market as two separate houses as its owner grows desperate to sell it.

Chesil Cliff House in Croyde, Devon, features a lighthouse design and boasts a stunning cliffside location with incredible views – but has sat empty for years.

Owner Edward Short and his then-wife Hazel originally planned to spend £1.8million developing the home over an 18-month period.

READ MORE: Grand Designs 'saddest ever home' is £10m clifftop mansion that ruined owner's life

But the ambitious project ended up taking 12 years and left Edward £7million in debt, having split from Hazel due to the stress of the build as the disaster played out on the hit Channel 4 show.

Things were looking up earlier this year when the home came close to being sold – but it has now been put back on the market with a new plan to shift the property once and for all.

Sources claim the main property, a white art-deco lighthouse, will go up for sale for £7.5million while the second adjacent beach development, The Eye, will be marketed at £2.5million.

A source close to the sale told MailOnline Edward was still keen to sell the property to the original buyer as a whole – but as "certain deadlines" had passed, agents were forced to put the property back on the market and try a different tactic.

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  Owner of Grand Designs’ ’saddest ever’ house in new lighting row which 'will ruin view'

"The sale of Chesil Cliff House in its entirety is very much on. It has only been put back on the market because certain deadlines for the sale have passed," they told the publication.

"The sale is being negotiated, but because the potential buyer hasn't yet signed on the dotted line and an agreed date has passed, the agents have been obliged to offer it to all interested parties again.

"The preferred sale would see it sold as a single property, but Ed is keen to see if maybe one of the developments can be sold first in a separate deal to get one off his hands."

The source went on to say Edward was staying "positive" about the sale and hoped his home would still go to the original prospective buyer.

Edward originally hoped to move into the property himself, but after he came close to bankruptcy he was forced to sell the magnificent home, hoping to bag a £4million profit.

The property was taken off the market by estate agent Knight Frank in February this year after it was confirmed they had a "serious buyer" who was discussing the "terms of sale".

However, the house is now being advertised again with the two separate parts of the property being marketed separately.

The main house boasts five bedrooms and bathrooms, four reception rooms, a sauna, a cellar and even a swimming pool.

Meanwhile The Eye, which fetches a lower price tag, has three bedrooms and a double garage – plus the same views over Croyde Bay, Saunton Beach and Braunton Burrows.

Chesil Cliff House first appeared on Grand Designs in 2010 and has been the subject of numerous follow-up episodes, where Edward detailed how the recession and building issues cost him millions of pounds and his marriage.

The most recent follow-up was last year when Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud revisited the property and spoke to Edward's now grown-up daughters – who admitted even they were "over" the project.

Last year, Edward confessed he felt "cursed" by the property but added: "I'll always be proud to have finished this. I owe it to my family to have a real end result, but the time has come to move on.

"I will have achieved what I set out to do, never deviating from the plans, and for that I’ll always be proud."

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• Property
• Channel 4
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