Returning: Grand Designs

A new season of Grand Designs begins on ABC1 this month.

This tenth season, which has already aired on Pay TV, kicks off with an epic project, turning a ruined castle into his home. And you know what they say about those….

This is the story of one man’s heroic attempt to fulfil his childhood dream and bring back from the ruins an incredible castle set in one of the most beautiful landscapes of Southern Ireland.

Larger than life actor Sean Simons fell in love with Cloontykilla Castle when he played there as a boy. So much so that years later he bought it, with the idea of turning it into a spectacular, theatrical mock sixteenth century home – complete with grand baronial hall, luxury bedrooms, sweeping staircases, water spouting gargoyles, Jacuzzis in the battlements and a huge recording studio in the basement.

After borrowing an eye watering 1.2 million Euros, Sean launches into his project just as Ireland plunges into one of the worst economic recessions in history. He has a head full of fairy tales, but no help from an architect, or indeed any formal plans whatsoever. Making things up as you go along is fine if you’re building a toy castle, but not when you’ve got a large team of builders on site, a schedule to hit and the bank looking over your shoulder.

Over two years, rooms are built then knocked down again. Contractors walk out in frustration. Planning permissions are ignored. But somehow Sean’s vision starts to come alive … just as Ireland collapses into financial meltdown.

7:30pm Sunday, 9 June on ABC1.