âGrand Designsâ house constructed entirely out of forgotten Christmas puddings
In one of the most ambitious self-building projects to date âGrand Designsâ presenter Kevin McCloud has revealed the first house to be constructed entirely out of forgotten Christmas puddings. When Devonshire couple, Tom and Felicity Holmes realised that they could never afford to build their dream house out of traditional materials they were forced to think outside of the box. So, when Felicity discovered 17 yearsâ worth of unused Christmas puddings in the back of her motherâs kitchen cupboard, she experienced a true âEurekaâ moment. The couple called for a Christmas pudding amnesty across the County, and with the help of the Torquay Advertiser and the Crediton Times, they were bombarded with tons of unused Christmas puddings, some dating from the early 1930âs, enabling them to start work on their cosy family home. Kevin McCloud described their dream as the riskiest Grand Designs project ever. âI never thought for one moment that Tom and Felicity would be able to tap into a rich seam of rock hard prunes, sultanas, ground cinnamon and muscovado sugar. But they have proved me wrong, and the resulting Adobe design has elements of Black Forest gothic coupled with scrumptious Bauhaus simplicity. They should be very proud.â With metre thick walls and windows made out of three layers of empty mincemeat jars the building meets currant UK building standards for Sustainable Homes. But the building project was not all plain sailing, explained Kevin. âIn late September the couple announced that they had run out of petrified marzipan to top off the roof structure leaving the house open to the elements during the winter months. Luckily Tomâs mother had a cupboard full of stale brandy snaps, which gave them a temporary fix and time to resolve the problem. âHaving Kevin in the mix helped us finish the project in the time we allowed,â said Tom âthe walls alone required five hours steaming at gas mark 5 and more than three hundred and fifty feet of cling film to hold them together during the building process.â The couple now plan to host a massive house warming party, just in time for Christmas for long suffering neighbours, family and friends. Next door neighbour Horace Bradley said, âIt hasnât been easy for anyone, and to be honest theyâve made living next to them an absolute misery for the last six months. I canât wait for the party and look forward to pouring brandy over the top and setting the fucker alight.â