AN UNDERGROUND reservoir that was filmed for Channel 4's Grand Designs is up for auction, with a guide price of £600,000.
Ridley Reservoir has been the focus of an ambitious development project in recent years, with plans to convert the drained and disused plot into a luxurious private home.
Decommissioned in the 1960s, the service reservoir was set to be transformed into a four-bedroom family home.
A refurbished buried water tank was expected to form part of the living space, along with the addition of a swimming pool, cinema room, and roof terrace.
With planning permission approved in March 2019, the current owner has set the foundations for the epic build, with the property’s walls and driveway excavated from the original landscape.
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Spanning 8,000 square metres, the project caught the attention of Channel 4 bosses, with Kevin McCloud paying the site a visit as part of filming for the hit architectural show, Grand Designs.
However, after a year’s worth of ground work, the old reservoir building is heading to auction, with the new owners required to complete the unusual home.
Ridley Reservoir failed to sell earlier this year after being put on the market for £850,000 and has now been reduced in price in a bid to find someone to take it on.
The unfinished development will be offered in an online auction on Monday January 22 with bidding open for 24 hours only.
Situated in the small market town of Alsager, the site is close to the Staffordshire border.
The reservoir backs onto Alsager golf course and is surrounded by open countryside.
Taken from the online listing, agents Auction House Cheshire, Staffordshire & Shropshire describe the sale as “an amazing Grand Designs opportunity.”
They added: “This is a project for someone with great vision, boasting over 8000 square metres of property.
“Set in rural part of Alsager with extensive views, it has development potential perfect for a builder/developer or home owner looking for their family home to make their own.”
There's been a slew of Grand Designs homes which have fallen on hard times throughout the years.
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Back in 2007, Chris Miller and his wife Sze Liu Lai dreamed of escaping London and renovating a ramshackle houseboat in Essex to live on with their two kids.
They planned to spend £80,000 on adding recycled materials to their 100ft Medward Eco-barge.
However, the family were left all at sea when their boat was left moored unfinished in the Thames estuary near Southend.
Here it became a target for squatters and vandals, and broke free from its mooring in 2011 to be later found washed up on a beach.
Reports claim that the Medway Eco-barge was taken over by squatters whilst moored in Southend, and was also used by local teens to throw parties.
While Chris said they hoped to continue renovating the boat, the £70,000 worth of damage by vandals meant it was no longer financially viable.
Meanwhile, the owners of the infamous Dome House also didn't have smooth sailings while completing their ambitious project.
Arhchitect and owner Robert Gaukroger and his wife Milla hoped to create a futuristic, seven-bedroom eco-mansion complete with an indoor pool.
Robert dedicated two years and £1million constructing the unique hillside project above Bowness-in-Windermere in 2011.
However, locals who saw the home in 2016 worried that it had been abandoned, after the grounds looked overgrown and scruffy.
It emerged that Robert had been caught up in an eight-year dispute with a neighbour and moved down south to study at university.
He then tried to sell the home for £2.3million in 2015 and then dropped the price to £1.45million months later.
Thankfully the home had a happy ending, as it was purchased by Yvonne Malley, who had previously donated cash to save the build five years before when the credit crunch left Robert with a half-finished home.
Now it has been renovated and is run as a luxury guest house boasting glowing reviews on TripAdvisor. The house is currently listed on Booking.com for £170 per night.
