A COUPLE bought Grand Designs’ biggest ever disaster project after it washed up on a beach – and have turned it into a holiday home.
Rob and Sarah Burch, from Essex, snapped up the Medway Eco-Barge, which featured on an episode of the Kevin McCloud-helmed Channel 4 show in 2007.
Chris Miller and Sze Liu Lai had ambitious plans to renovate a rusted Thames barge into a two-storey houseboat with three bedrooms.
They only used eco-friendly and second hand materials, and had an initial budget of just £50,000.
But they clashed with builders over their unrealistic demands, with one worker telling them: “It looks s***.”
They eventually bailed out when the disastrous scheme’s costs skyrocketed 60% beyond their budget.
The eco-barge was abandoned before washing up on an Essex beach in 2011, where it was used by squatters.
Rob and Sarah bought it in 2020 for £70,000 and have since splurged £150,000 renovating it into a plush home.
It’s a world away from what it looked like on the show, with McCloud even describing it as “a floating scrapheap challenge”.
The Burchs own a steel frame firm and worked on the barge at their boat yard in Burnham-on-Crouch.
Rob, 54, said despite the boat looking structurally okay from the outside, once work began it was clear it would end up “being a complete re-fit”.
He told the MailOnline: “They were doing a conversion, and everything they had done looked okay on the outside, but it was terrible when we started to look at it…
“The idea initially was to recycle the materials back onto the boat, but because we delved so far into it, it literally became about taking it out and replacing it.”
Dad-of-four Rob said with the yard just three miles from the North Sea, the boat “has had a baptism of fire” due to stormy weather.
He admitted the project was a lot more in-depth than he and his wife had first realised, initially intending to put a steel frame on top and a tidy up downstairs.
However, they soon realised there was water under the boards.
On top of the money spent, the Burchs were doing everything on their own time while using their own workforce.
Two years after first buying the boat, it was finally finished in 2022.
But it’s been all worth it in the end, with the family splitting their time between the boat and their house in St Lawrence.
The downstairs level has the main bedroom, while the barge also boasts a small library and plush dining area.
Sarah, 47, said: “We’re attached to it, it’s like our baby.”
Savills’s listing reads: “The property represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take on and finish the specification and fit out of one of the UK’s most spectacularly situated coastal homes.
“The bespoke design has been brought to life through impressive engineering, with the building being anchored to the bedrock, blending whitewashed elevations with steel and glass, culminating with a lighthouse feature at one end giving almost 360-degree views of the coastline.
“The position combines privacy with a diverse range of breath-taking views, all set in around 3 acres, which includes a large area of foreshore, a private tidal beach area and coves.”
The property is set in three acres of land and is equipped with an infinity pool and a hot tub as well as a spacious driveway.
Nic Chbat, director of Match Property estate agents in North Devon, who previously assisted with finding a buyer last year said at the time the sale stalled after the timeframe for the sale “expired”.
He added the previous buyer was “still wanting to buy the property,” and the sale was still expected to proceed.
The new listing though would suggest the purchase was never made with the sale now being handled by London-based estate agents Savills.
A spokeswoman for both Savills and the receivers Bellevue Mortlakes said: “The sale represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase one of the UK’s most spectacularly situated coastal homes and for the buyer to put the finishing touches to the property’s interior to their own specification.
“The current sale price (offers in excess of £5.25m) represents fair value noting the prevailing economic and heterogeneous nature of this opportunity.
“The property has panoramic sea views and is set in grounds of over three acres, including foreshore and a tidal beach, with accommodation extending to over 6,260 sq ft.
“The detached guest lodge/holiday let accommodation extends to about 1,270 sq ft and is included in the sale price.
“Subject to registration with the agents, the receiver has provided an extensive suite of information and supporting documentation relating to the building’s history, construction and title, which are available via an online data room.”
