by Jake Polden
Kevin McCloud, a talented architect who stars in Channel 4’s Grand Designs, casts aside all connotations surrounding the word ‘grand’ and builds himself a modest mobile home perched in a secret location on a Somerset cliff-top.
Assembled entirely from reused and recycled materials, the one-of-a-kind holiday home is completely eco-friendly and distinctly nautical, what with its curved exterior, veranda (which came from a ship), and sumptuous views of the sea.
Amalgamating basic material and modern ideas, Kevin hired Will Trickett – a bespoke canal boat builder – to install some ingeniously cheap features like a second-hand chairlift/ platform that provides priceless panoramic views of the landscape.
Perfecting the necessities, the house also comes with a counterbalancing iron girder to keep the veranda from returning home, as well electricity throughout – powered by none other than the most accessible material, animal dung.
Alongside the more boring, but essential features, the cabin also includes an outside spa for those warm West Country evenings, a bath made from a jet-engine and a twin-oven made from a disarmed Russian sea mine.
Originally smaller and based in another location, Kevin told The Daily Telegraph how he was forced into proving the cabin lives up to its mobile name: “we affixed a sign to the building during transit which read ‘Caution – Shed On Tour’.”
Since then the “shed”, as Kevin referred to it, has become the perfect holiday home that cost him a total of £5,000 to complete – we know, unbelievable.
To catch up with the construction of Kevin’s cabin on Kevin McCloud’s Man Made Home, check out 4oD.
