Boat enthusiast James Strangeways invites Kevin McCloud to survey progress on the construction of his new home, which his architect nephew Ben Hebblethwaite has designed to be as 'un-houselike' as possible. James has spent the past 35 years travelling the canals and waterways of Britain, and despite never liking houses, has decided now is the time to put down roots on dry land. Ben hoped a home standing on stilts above a marsh, and incorporating ship-like qualities such as a keel-shaped roof, will be enough to satisfy his boat-mad uncle. However, Ben's contractor goes into liquidation a few months into the project, taking £87,000 of the £300,000 budget, and when James decides to make a few tweaks to the design, alarm-bells begin to ring for the young architect.

Grand Designs Season 16 Episodes...

• s16e01 - Largest ever home, West Sussex
• s16e02 - The un-houselike boat house, East Sussex
• s16e03 - Seaside Plot, Isle of Wight
• s16e04 - Abandoned Cave, Worcestershire
• s16e05 - Blacksmith, County Antrim
• s16e06 - Concrete Cowshed, Somerset
• s16e07 - Post-Industrial house, South Downs
• s16e08 - Revisited - River Thames: Floating House
• s16e09 - Revisited - North Cornwall: The Cross-Laminated Timber House

Grand Designs Show Summary

Grand Designs is a Channel 4 TV series covering unusual architectural house-building projects, presented by Kevin McCloud.

The properties featured in the series vary wildly from homes underground to converted water towers, with the only common factor being that they're all rather unusual or extravagant in some way.