- The house is made from old ship's planks and aeroplane windows
- Features a shopping trolley grill and phone box shower
- Property is technically a caravan so doesn't need planning permission
By DAVID WILKES
It might look like a shanty shack to some, but its creator considers it his dream beach house.
Somewhat surprisingly perhaps, he is none other than Kevin McCloud, better known for showcasing elaborate and high-tech architectural projects as the presenter of television’s Grand Designs show.
But for his latest venture, he has undergone a dramatic sea change... combing the beach, and elsewhere, for materials to build a holiday home with a difference.
TV presenter Kevin McCloud has built a £5,000 house out of recycled junk
The shanty shack is perched 100ft above a beach near Minehead, in Somerset
Shanty shack: Kevin McCloud has built the beach house as part of his new series
The cabin is actually an enlarged, improved and relocated version of the oak hut he built as a woodland hideaway in another show
Using recycled materials including timbers from an old ship, aeroplane windows and shopping trolleys, he has constructed a retreat like no other.
Perched on the edge of a 100ft cliff in Somerset, it boasts stunning views over a tranquil bay near Minehead. But the cabin’s lamps are fuelled by fish oil and there’s even a cooking cauldron fashioned from the casing of a Russian sea mine.
By embracing The Wombles’ ethic of making good use of the everyday things that folk leave behind, it may not look that ‘des-res’ but it only cost around £5,000 to complete.
The star of his new four-part television series, the cabin is an enlarged, radically improved and relocated version of the oak hut he built as a woodland hideaway in his show Kevin McCloud’s Man Made Home last year.
Chilling out: McCloud relaxes in this hammock made from old anchors and rope
A place to rust: this hammock provides a perfect view out towards the ocean
The prow the the house overhangs this cliff top at the end of a caravan park
The seaside home is sited at the end of a caravan park near Minehead in Somerset
The updated cabin’s new wooden veranda juts out over the sea like a ship’s prow and was made from timbers from a vessel called The Sanu which was about to be broken up in a shipyard.
The aeroplane windows, salvaged from a breaker’s yard, form a covered area from which the views can be enjoyed in any weather.
Modest living: the TV presenter also made soap from mackerel, lime and seaweed crushed in a press
Shopping trolleys which were dumped in a dock have been refashioned into a grill for cooking, while an outdoor shower has been constructed in an phone box with a water tank on top of it - with the phone handset ingeniously converted into the shower head.
Perhaps less appealingly, but just as effective, Mr McCloud and his team also discovered that snail slime has a ‘skin-regenerating protein’ which makes it effective as a face cream.
As for soap, they made some from a mixture of rotten mackerel and lime, crushed in a cider press and mixed with seaweed.
Introducing the first episode of the new series, which airs tomorrow(Sun), Mr McCloud said: ‘It’s the ultimate recycling mission as I transform my simple wooden cabin into the most fantastic, most beautiful, most incredible beach house of my dreams.
‘I’m unhooking myself from the madness of 21st century living. I’m going to make my bolt hole and everything in it with my bare hands - and want to see if a simple, more creative life can make you that bit happier.’
Despite the cabin weighing four tons, no planning permission was required as the structure is classed as a caravan and is sited at the end of a caravan park.
Kevin McCloud’s Man Made Home starts on Sunday September 22 at 8pm on Channel 4.
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