GrandDesigns S27E04 Surrey Hills 2025

Name: GrandDesigns S27E04 Surrey Hills 2025
Uploaded: 2025-10-22T23:06:52+00:00
Duration: 46 min 54 s
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Description: GrandDesigns S27E04 Surrey Hills 2025

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00:00the ancients used to compare our thoughts and our memories to a library and all we had to do was to

00:11then reach back into time in our minds to find a particular volume past the dusty shelves in

00:19a corner somewhere which when you opened it would suddenly remind you of a shared experience or a

00:25glimpsed moment so imagine imagine that you could build like this library an edifice specifically

00:34designed to house those shared experiences to honor our autobiographies and our memories memories which

00:45otherwise would just simply fade away in the wind memories of loved ones or even a particular loved

00:53one now that would be worth building wouldn't it

00:57so a nice hearty soup oh just what we need today

01:26when perpetua met melina back in the 90s it wasn't a given that they would fall in love

01:35melina and i are complete opposite ends of the spectrum we are so different personality wise

01:42we are like day and night but we always come together we always align and we always agree

01:48in things so you pounced on me because i was a viking i knew you were good stock yeah melina can

01:56rightly claim viking heritage she's from denmark life together has opened pep's eyes to a whole new

02:04culture my love of scandinavia and the nordic countries on their way of life has grown through

02:10knowing melina on their wedding day they agreed to realize each other's dreams on the lands they

02:18bought together in the surrey hills my dream was to have my own stable yard and 2008 pep she gave me

02:27the keys to the stable yards on our property here which enabled melina an occupational therapist to use

02:35horses as part of her work now it's time for pep a high-flying corporate accountant to realize her great

02:43ambition i've always wanted to build us a home and now to get the chance to do that is incredible

02:51however the impetus to realize that dream came into sharp focus two years ago

03:03when pep was diagnosed with terminal cancer

03:09when you're given the diagnosis that i was given it was all of a sudden things that did

03:16matter to me like work and you know achieving and getting things done um they paled in significance

03:28the diagnosis of cancer that triggered triggered me into saying right if i'm i'm gonna build a house

03:36while i'm alive i better get on with it now and it's given her just a bit more fight you know in in her

03:44like you know she's so determined to do this never want to hold back from getting stuck in

03:53building a house has become pep's raison d'etre the house project's been a great distraction from

04:01the c project

04:04that can be firewood doing a project like this is a massive incentive to stay well

04:10and stay fit and get through the the cancer treatment as best i can we had a very good life

04:18and building the house is just going to be the last chapter of of our life together of the many

04:26reasons that people build a home together i can't think of one that is more poignant than this

04:32well what a beautiful sight to build a house on hello oh oh hi kevin i'm walking across vegetables

04:43here am i oh that's all right hi kevin you yeah perpetua yes yeah melina melina yeah how much of this

04:52land is yours it's about five acres we live in the property at the front of the house and you've got a

04:58building which is i think it started life as a chicken shed that will be demolished so what's

05:04the deal then you're going to build on this site yeah yeah so the grand plan is to build a single

05:10story viking inspired long long house this is a modern version so passive house and inside it's just

05:18going to be very modern nordic design and hygge it has to be hygge which is cozy yeah so there's a word

05:26in swedish called lagom which means just enough and you should only take from the world enough of

05:33what you need to survive as opposed to you know over consuming so hygge and lagom and these kind

05:39of guiding scandinavian ideas so just to find that balance tell me about health and um how can how

05:46because you know you're undergoing treatment so theoretically i should be dead now but that

05:51really spurred us on to now build the house and actually activate those plans amazing given that

06:00many people in your situation would decide to kind of oh i don't know go on a cruise you know what i

06:05mean yeah yeah cancer is not you know our whole life that it's part of our life and yes i will die one

06:13day as we all will but i'm not going to die every day i'm going to be living very good way of putting it

06:18yeah first order of business is to get rid of the old chicken shed and concrete pad

06:25in its place will come a highly insulated polystyrene raft that will be laid out and filled with concrete

06:32from this point on this house designed by pep and melina themselves will be constructed almost entirely

06:38of wood prefabricated sections will form a super energy efficient insulated structural shell

06:45this clever piece of engineering creates a huge open space inside ready for viking feasts and supporting

06:54this viking hall entire walls of glazing to connect with the nature that surrounds

07:00on the outside a skin of neatly aligned ash cladding will envelop the building a cladding that'll age to

07:07resemble the surrounding trees the uninterrupted roof line will be covered in sustainable swedish steel

07:16it's a simple understated barn-like shape lagom just enough enter through any of the many openings

07:26and you'll find inside a generous full height kitchen living area which although simple is anything but austere

07:34a place where the hygge happens at the north end will sit the main bedroom and the bathroom

07:41mirrored at the opposite end by two guest rooms all thoughtfully sighted in what is actually a modestly

07:47sized house plus garage pep and melina's ambition is to make a home that honors their life shared together

07:57however time is not on their side so it's vital that they build it as quickly as possible

08:04and that it goes up without a hitch

08:09how long is it you're going to take you to get a house that's habitable well nine months is a good

08:14time you know you can make babies in nine months so we hope to make a building in that time okay good

08:19um and yeah we we need to get through it because basically i need to have as much time to live in

08:26it as possible yes you do and you bring i'm presuming given your vast experience in business i will be

08:32very disappointed if it goes over none of my projects have gone over so far so whatever ever

08:39program management's my background um but i haven't built anything before so i think i've got quite a bit

08:44to learn there and we will be managing a tight budget how much how much have you allocated for it

08:49500 plus 10 contingency so 550. which is quite ambitious we're funding the project through two

08:55thirds of my life insurance and then the other third will come from the sale of our existing house

09:00so the idea is keep me alive keep me alive so i can build the house yeah anything we get after

09:06that is a bonus i asked pep whether she was sure about this build and she said the build is going

09:12to help her sort of thrive over the next yeah it's an interesting point because it can sap energy

09:18and i guess it's going to require quite a lot of careful management on your part to ensure that you

09:23get the best out of it we're going to enjoy the process aren't we yeah so far it's been great

09:31so here's the tall order ordinarily people derive a lot of positive energy and excitement and

09:37they thrive on finished architecture that's what finished buildings can do when they function at

09:44their best but to derive that same energy from the process well that's another matter but that's exactly

09:52what pet wants to do she wants to see this this process as a means of sustaining her wow i mean what

09:58she's got in her favor of course is that she is used to and enjoys the reputation of having delivered

10:05projects which come in on time and on budget

10:13the bonus of being able to do that is that she ends up not just enjoying the process of building this house

10:23but lives long enough to enjoy living in it too for some time

10:28after months of preparation pouring over designs and spreadsheets there's no time to waste

10:38the old shed is demolished and where once was a green idyll there is now chaos

10:45the upheaval is immense it's absolutely bonkers with a small army of ground workers on site

10:53the buck now stops with pep who's getting her first taste of the real world of full-time project

10:59management hard cut's coming tomorrow morning oh my goodness we better get moving then

11:05mama hey hey hey hey hey heal and pep's not the only one feeling the strain melina keeps finding

11:11reasons to go and walk the dog well then i think that's how she's coping she's not very good at chaos

11:18as if getting to grips with her new role as site manager isn't enough

11:24pep has to also stay on top of a novel chemotherapy regime they're hoping might keep her active for

11:31longer a bit of a nuisance sometimes having to go off to actually sit and have the chemo for

11:38whatever it takes an hour and a half it has to be done along with a lot of other things

11:45but it would seem that pep is a master juggler and plate spinner

11:53whoa we don't need that house anymore anyway because within weeks the ground is beautifully

11:59flat and ready to take delivery of the foundation system like no other project i can think of

12:07here time really is of the essence yeah i think they were quite surprised when they all got a hug

12:13when they arrived but i i didn't realize how pleased i was to see them and with good reason because

12:21pep has just returned home from another spell in hospital after reacting badly to the new chemo drug

12:28touch wood we've got it back under control which is satisfying because there's nothing worse than being

12:35you know a whole load of work to be done and you're you can't do it

12:42now she's back pep spares no time in motivating the troops oh that's the easiest bit of work

12:49you've done all day no gym required tonight nathan always smiling staying true to her guiding principle of

12:58lagom just enough pep has ordered a highly insulated foundation system made of polystyrene blocks

13:06and any weeks later it's back again yeah these form a tray which is loaded up with underfloor heating

13:13loops sewer pipes and rebar and within a week bang on pep's schedule it's ready to be filled with concrete

13:20the rain has stopped so it's perfect they start pouring the concrete via a separately hired pumping

13:28truck from the first of a series of lorries which mix the concrete as it's dispensed that's the sand

13:34falling there then it's mixing in there coming up and coming out as concrete the last two weeks has

13:42been difficult balancing everything when you are so exhausted melina's been an absolute rot you know

13:50feeding me constantly trying to keep me rested people think i'm doing all the work but in fact

13:57she's the one you know pushing the engine from behind and she's just always there and always has been

14:04once she's satisfied that the concrete pour is running smoothly pep goes back to the house to rest wait

14:15pump is blocked now i'll do nothing by pump but a sudden fault with the cement truck means it's now churned

14:25out completely the wrong mix causing the pump to jam up whole thing's full with ballast

14:31and interrupted concrete pour could screw up the whole foundations

14:45we're having a nightmare here

14:46in the surrey hills pep and melina's concrete pour is in crisis whole thing's full with ballast

15:05the faulty concrete truck means there's no concrete flowing

15:09it's blocked all the pump we need to get the machine back to the yard to clear it

15:17pausing the poor midway could have disastrous consequences

15:21it has to go in as one poured one continuous slab you can't stop and you can't start tomorrow again

15:27it has to all has to go off together the jammed up pump vacates the site leaving brendan the foreman one

15:36short hour to find another one before the concrete sets and the incomplete foundations are ruined

15:45pep is unaware of this first real threat to her schedule but it's just as well because she needs

15:51to be at hospital she's having a blood test because she's been a bit uh tired in the last few days so

16:00just checking that everything's okay pep has put the project first at every stage

16:07but right now getting checked out takes priority back on site miraculously brendan has rustled up

16:14another pump truck and it arrives just in time

16:21mercifully the next concrete load flows beautifully

16:24and by the end of the day pep's slab is complete ready to receive her viking home

16:36now i get why pep and melina have chosen to go danish with their project

16:41but why are the rest of us so captivated by scandy design and what exactly is it anyway

16:47this is kaza roo by christopherson and weiling architects a house near the danish city of aarhus

16:55it embodies the ideas that are driving pep and melina's project this looks lovely

17:01and it looks lagom yeah just enough it's based on traditional farms so it's three barns arranged

17:09around a courtyard they're very very simple goodness me i can't even see any gutters they're that agricultural

17:18but don't be fooled by this stripped back farming aesthetic in fact there are gutters they're just

17:24artfully concealed in the roof line yes there are farmer functional cement slab steps but the details

17:31here are crisp even the cladding screws are perfectly aligned lagom may mean just enough but it also

17:39suggests sharing in this case sharing a wing of your home with a pet falcon inside it's easy to see the

17:47resonance this place has with pep and melina's design it's another open plan viking hall with long

17:54low walls of glass quality of what's here in the junctions in the details oh my goodness it's in the

18:02ceiling which is such a simple expanse and yet the little shadow gap and every edge that you see it's

18:09just a blade there's a huge amount of expertise and precision and painstaking care here simple forms

18:18simple shapes exquisite execution and craftsmanship that's where the magic comes from all this meticulous

18:27and modest detailing flows a steadying sense of calm and comfort hugo the catch for pep and melina is

18:34that this project was finished in a year by throwing money at it their budget is far more modest

18:46so they've gone for the quickest construction method they can afford

18:50pep and melina are working with a timber frame company who are prefabricating the entire airtight

18:57structure of the house in their factory

19:03and so three short weeks after finishing the foundations oh yeah wow look pep and melina take

19:10delivery of their house look there we go

19:17so far we're on schedule everybody's stuck to their deadlines thankfully speed is important

19:28pep had a recent scan which confirmed her disease is progressing

19:33i have to encourage her not to overdo things because you know if you overdo anything she gets

19:38very tired and it kind of backfires and i've got a good second in command yeah

19:45despite the exhaustion this project gains ever more importance for the pair of them day by day

19:53i can't even put into words how building the house has actually been

19:56something that has kept us going despite type of prognosis is so poor now

20:02yeah it's a it's a positive thing positive force in our life

20:05without further ado the crane begins its aerial ballet correctly placing the 49 prefabricated

20:17sections of the house all right let's get out of the way yeah you make me nervous

20:25just three months after they struck ground pep and melina watch as the first panels are

20:31swung into place with a satisfying speed and efficiency to you cop the milk okay yeah how do you feel

20:39though i'm feeling happy and okay that's all right looking forward to the next stage and thinking about

20:48all the things i'm supposed to be doing right now just go and give a poster good team aren't we so far

20:55it's getting a bit chilly now isn't it do you want to go in i think you should obviously

21:04before she heads in time the one final pep talk you guys are incredible you're doing a great job

21:11can i get you anything no no we're fine we're okay this is exceptionally fast construction

21:18over the next few days the rest of the internal walls and roof structure fly up

21:28but all this positive momentum is flowing against the inevitable progression of pep's cancer

21:37choices and routes forward have become more limited

21:41you know right from the beginning pep and melina were absolutely clear pep was living with a serious

21:48illness and that the pair of them were managing their way through it with of course pep's treatment

21:56for her cancer and buoyed along all the time by a tremendous energy and optimism for the project

22:05however in the last week pep has had one of those meetings with her doctors that any of us would dread

22:16in which she was told that they would be stopping her treatment and they would be moving her to

22:21palliative care now goodness knows how they are and how they can find the emotional and spiritual energy

22:30to deal with that and i can only begin to imagine how it will affect the energy the enthusiasm the hopes

22:43the dreams they've held for this home

22:50pep stays indoors now so i'm meeting melina first to see the house

22:55hey melina how are you i'm good thank you i hope more importantly has pep you know obviously you

23:04know her health is deteriorating she's less outside because she really feels so cold now

23:09it's because i know how much pain she's in how she can just maintain her drive and you know she gets

23:14up in the middle of the night and starts working on the computer that is just remarkable yeah i did ask

23:19whether she regretted starting the build and but you know absolutely not so there's still the viking

23:25spirit here yeah yeah yeah very much i don't know what we would be like if we didn't have this

23:31in our life i honestly i have i don't dare to think about it it's so invigorating but it's also

23:37partly to do with the the ability they are so supportive and they're so motivated i mean they're just so

23:45kind you know it has been a really positive influence in our life yeah this is no ordinary

23:55work site how heartening that the worst of times can bring out the best in builders her story touched

24:03me very much all of the lads who work with me unfortunately have been touched by this themselves

24:09in the last year or so they're working like trojans to make sure we get it done in good time

24:16so that she can get the benefit of it

24:21despite being confined indoors pep is still determined to keep a close eye on works

24:29you must be pleased with progress on the project they're working over the bank holiday the poor guys

24:34are you enjoying it oh i love it yeah it's great heaven yeah it's a great distraction for my illness

24:41it's it's what i've wanted to do for so many years and um also knowing it's going to be there beyond

24:48my life it's the gundenavians saying that when you chop a tree down in sweden you you don't build a

24:55bigger house you build a longer table and that's metaphorically speaking that's what we're doing

25:03here is um building a place for this table for family and friends to be at the idea that you're

25:10building for the generations you know with the memory of ancestors an amazing gift i'm really delighted

25:18that it will give her something to focus on beyond me being here um and and the home more than anything

25:27that it will give her a chance to be able to find a place to be able to find a place to be able to find a place

25:36The frenetic pace on site continues with the arrival of the windows, but for the first

25:55time on this project, Pep is unable to muster the strength to witness such an important

26:02milestone as this with her own eyes.

26:06Never have I been more desperate for a house to get finished.

26:28It's summer at Pep and Melina's building site in the Surrey Hills.

26:35For just short of three long years, Pep faced down her cancer diagnosis with a courage and

26:42determination that was inspiring.

26:46But in the closing weeks of spring, Pep finally reached the end.

26:58So it's five weeks since Pep passed away.

27:04I can't quite believe she's gone because she was so across this project.

27:09It seems also weird to define her in terms of this project.

27:13But, of course, that's in her last days what she did.

27:18She drew such energy from this.

27:21And she would have loved, I think, to see it without the scaffolding on now as it is.

27:31It's quiet.

27:33There are no builders.

27:35There's no one here.

27:39Which is a lovely way to see the building, but I have no idea what happens now.

27:46For Pep, the construction of this shared home was a lifelong dream.

27:51One which arguably provided her with the energy and life force to propel her beyond the time

27:58the doctors had given her to live.

28:02Now, it falls to Melina to decide how that dream is realised.

28:07So I've just been up to the house to see Melina, who understandably is taking some time out.

28:19And events, of course, for her are all very raw and very powerful, and it's a hugely difficult time for her.

28:29And yet, you know, what's remarkable, as she describes how Pep, even in her last hours, was still talking about pipework

28:39and the first fix and the work on the project, and I suppose absolutely consistent with that,

28:47the scaffolders struck the scaffolding here for the funeral.

28:52They brought Pep in, and they placed her in her wicker coffin in here,

28:58and it was a sort of Viking goodbye in the Viking longhouse.

29:04Right now, there's a quiet time.

29:08Right now is a pause.

29:10Right now is just a time to stop.

29:11After taking some time away from the project, time for herself, Merlina has been able to reflect on what the future might mean without Pep by her side.

29:27And she's reached a significant conclusion.

29:31It's extremely important for me to finish the project for Pep's legacy.

29:36But, excuse me, but, yeah, yeah, but, yeah, I am, you know, I'm going to make sure that that build gets finished 100%.

29:49But stepping in to Pep's project managing shoes will not be easy for Merlina, who always left the admin of even the household finances to the accountant, Pep.

30:03I'm not a spreadsheet person.

30:04I would say managing builders and, you know, and managing people in general is not my strongest point.

30:10Pep was the driving force, you know, she was thinking big and had the overview where I just look at each step.

30:17It's been kind of firefighting, to be honest.

30:20Merlina's first test of her people management skills hits when she brings in carpenters to put up the ash cladding.

30:28It's an important part of the character of the house.

30:31But more immediately pressing is the financial situation.

30:36At the moment we don't have the funds.

30:38This house has to be sold in order to complete the interior of the house.

30:43She finds moving out to a temporary home in the stable block, so the old house is clear for viewings, bittersweet.

30:50We have so many happy memories here. We have been here for 18 years.

30:54It's a lot of destabilizing change in a short space of time.

31:03A few weeks on, Merlina isn't happy with the uneven way the cladding has been put up.

31:08So she has to spend precious extra money getting someone else to correct the work.

31:13The scale of her new responsibilities is weighing heavy.

31:18I realized that I'm not able to drive people the way Pepsi could drive a project and she was such a pro.

31:25And I come more aware of my strengths and my weaknesses in this process.

31:29And I think it's very important to acknowledge that.

31:32Despite her funds running low while she waits for the old house to sell, Merlina has decided to bring in a full-time project manager, Harry,

31:40to establish the momentum needed to finish the house.

31:44It's a little bit different to a normal job. There's a bit more emotion involved in this.

31:48She's a very good friend of our mum's and has done a lot, a lot for mum's.

31:52So, yeah, we want to return the favour.

31:55With professionals and family friends now in charge...

31:58So when do you think you'll be in there?

32:01The whole pace of the build picks back up to a speed Pep would have loved.

32:06The house is now crawling with plasters, carpenters and plumbers, all of whom need to be paid.

32:13The money seems to be going very, very quickly.

32:16And I feel like I'm just paying out thousands, more or less, every day.

32:21But without Pep's iron grip on the budget, who knows what problems lie ahead?

32:26Pep was very strict with her budget and I have a slightly different attitude to the budget.

32:33I have sort of upped the interior design on the project, which...

32:38Yeah. Sorry, Pep.

32:40If Melina's design ambitions run away with her and the old house doesn't sell soon,

32:46inevitably we'll all be hearing Pep's budgetary wise counsel ringing in our ears.

32:51But for now...

32:53Oh, wow.

32:54Melina is taking pleasure in witnessing the design choices which she and Pep shared become a reality.

33:02Sharp shadow gaps are being painstakingly sculpted into a Hugo-inducing sense of calm perfection.

33:10It's all in the day tower, isn't it? Everything's all in the day tower.

33:14And pleasingly white Douglas fir floorboards from Denmark, which Pep and Melina fell in love with for their tip-top environmental credentials,

33:23are laid by specialist fitters.

33:25So beautiful and so overwhelming. Thank you.

33:30Yeah.

33:32Come the end of April, the site is looking like a scene of a Viking raid.

33:37But the return of the diggers is a welcome sign that the landscaping is being tackled.

33:43Melina must now be on the home straight, surely.

33:47Well, there's a Viking longhouse, if ever I saw one.

33:50I saw one.

33:53It looks great.

33:55Everything seems as if it's falling into place, as if Melina is doing Pep proud.

34:04In terms of progress, I'm just amazed. Here you are taking the project.

34:08Have you had, by the way, any project management experience before?

34:12No, I haven't. No, no, not at all.

34:15And the handover from Pep to you, was that...?

34:17I didn't get a handover.

34:18So, I can't even get into a computer, so...

34:22Oh. Do you find it altogether stressful?

34:25Yes. There's a lot of emotions going on.

34:28Yeah.

34:30But it's mainly good ones.

34:32And also, it's part of healing, is to go through the sad moments as well.

34:36I'm guessing, for all kinds of reasons, it's important for you to finish this.

34:41Oh yeah, 100%.

34:43And that's why the building still feels that it's me and Pep who are still in the building.

34:46It doesn't feel like it's my project. It feels like we're still doing it together.

34:50Which is a really lovely...

34:51That's amazing.

34:52...comforting feeling.

34:54When people build, they so often find the experience corrosive of their own energies.

35:04Whereas here, Melina seems kind of energised by what she's doing.

35:09Goodness me, I didn't expect that and I just really hope that all those energies and drives kind of carry her over the finishing line gloriously.

35:22Wouldn't that be great?

35:24She so deserves it.

35:25She so deserves it.

35:26Of course, it does raise my expectations.

35:30It's summer, in the forest-clad expanse of the Surrey Hills, and just over a year since Pep passed away.

35:53Time for me to make one last visit.

35:58Gosh, it's going to be some day, I think.

36:02A day of rarer emotions and unusual feelings and reflections of some poignant memories, I think.

36:10But nevertheless wonderful, I hope.

36:12When Pep and Melina embarked on building their house based on principles of simplicity, the hope was that it would go up as quickly as possible, so Pep might see it finished.

36:29That wasn't to be.

36:31But now Melina has driven it to completion, is this the home she and Pep dreamed it would be?

36:37It goes to show what happens when you take a really, really simple idea and you craft it to perfection.

36:50This building is devoid of ostentation, but replete with elegance.

36:56It shows what happens when you make an art of simplicity through flawless, crafted execution.

37:01Oh, hello. Hi, Melina, how are you?

37:08I'm good. Very, very, very good to see you.

37:11Hi, Kevin. Hi.

37:13And how have you been?

37:14Yeah, I've been busy.

37:15Busy finishing the house?

37:16Yeah, exactly. It's taken all my life a bit.

37:19But congratulations. Thank you.

37:20Because it is a sort of seamless, beautifully tailored, modest, powerful thing.

37:26I love it. I actually love it. How long have you been actually living in it?

37:32Only for like a couple of weeks, so it's still a bit surreal to be living in it.

37:37And I have to say the trees are just amazing.

37:41This tree, however, at the front, that's an altogether more complex thing.

37:44Yes, it reflected on the tree of life, which is a tree that's called in the Nordic mythology called Yggdrasil.

37:54It's the sort of tree of the universe. And once the plaques say...

37:57It's a message for me. It basically says, now feasting with the gods at Valhalla.

38:03I want to feel something positive from it, rather than sadness.

38:07Yes, exactly.

38:09Yeah, and...

38:10Yeah, well that tree and that house are doing the same thing.

38:11Yeah.

38:13Come on, that's going on.

38:14Okay.

38:15I can't wait. I really can't.

38:17Okay, let's show you.

38:19Come in, Kevin.

38:22Oh, and that view.

38:25It's just a very pleasant thing to look at when you walk through the entrance.

38:29Isn't it just? Yeah, it's better than a painting.

38:31At the far end of this compact house are a guest bedroom, a bathroom, and for Vikings who like to do their admin, a home office.

38:42Oh, so good. I'm aware, of course, that all these rooms are preparation for the big act, the main chapter of the building, which is here.

38:54This is the Viking Hall.

38:55It is. It's a Viking Hall like you've never seen one, because it's perfect and crystalline.

39:06The spirit soars in here, doesn't it?

39:08Mm.

39:10The whole thing about Hugo is you'll feel comfortable and cosy.

39:14And it's like a big tent stretched out over a shared space. It's lovely.

39:19It is a space filled with all the Scandinavian-designed furniture and fittings which Pep and Melina collected over the years, alongside a new, neat kitchen area with a lavish marble top.

39:33So when we designed the kitchen, you know, Pep wanted a window seat so that, you know, she could watch me cooking and, you know, have a glass of wine and just, you know, as a kind of being together and do the cooking.

39:44So that's why the, you know, the window seat is very important, yeah.

39:48That's why she's sitting in the window seat.

39:49That's her place, yeah.

39:51Bless her.

39:52Yeah. Let me show you this, Kevin.

39:54So this is Pep's notebook and it's quite special.

39:57Oh, my Lord. It's got all her notes. Initial ideas. Nothing superfluous. Nothing pretentious. Love it.

40:06Yeah, she would sit at night and start writing things in that book.

40:09Her dream started off just by building a house.

40:12Yeah.

40:13But it became a lot more.

40:15Because she spoke about this dream for 20 odd years.

40:19I'm going to say you did it too.

40:20Yeah, I did mine.

40:21Cos you really, you picked up the mantle.

40:23Mm.

40:24You picked up everything and you, you, you're still driving it.

40:29You're still, you're still, you've still got, you've got the energy for two now.

40:36The interior design plan, which Pep and Melina worked on together over so many late night conversations,

40:43has been beautifully executed by Melina, evident not least in the most private of spaces.

40:48The main bedroom, full of fine detail and accompanied by an elegant en suite.

40:55Oh, my God. I might be getting no pressure, don't you?

41:00Okay.

41:02The house was conceived with feasting and entertaining in mind, especially as Pep was one of 11 siblings.

41:10Three of her sisters are also seeing the house for the first time.

41:14Cheers.

41:15Cheers.

41:17I think we're all very proud of what Pep and Melina have achieved.

41:22Oh, I think Petra would be absolutely delighted.

41:25We're extremely proud of Melina.

41:28It's a really testament to a Viking spirit.

41:32It's, I suppose.

41:36Richly deserved praise.

41:39I can't think of a more fitting testament to a life fully lived than this wonderfully modest home.

41:47Originally budgeted to cost 550,000 pounds.

41:52So, take me through the big numbers.

41:54Do you know how much the project costs to complete?

41:56Yes.

41:57So, the end figure of the project is just under 750,000 pounds.

42:04Does selling the old house, paying off your debts, does that get you to a point where you can comfortably live here?

42:11Yes, it does.

42:12So, you know, there's a lot riding on it.

42:16Did you ever think, actually, I'm not going to finish this?

42:19Did you ever think, actually, maybe it's a good idea to walk away from it?

42:22I actually have felt that the, you know, the project has kind of, you know, kept me going and given me a purpose.

42:30A feeling of immense pride of what Pep and I have achieved together.

42:35And also, I got a lot of strength from seeing Pep's determination in the last few months of her life.

42:42I mean, you know, you learn new things about each other at the time of adversity.

42:47And to see that sort of inner strength when literally you're coming to the end of your life and just see that, you know, her ability just to keep going.

42:58Keep going, yeah.

43:00Every day, every minute.

43:02You know, planning the next thing to the point that the last entry in her book was four days before she died.

43:07And she'd go, like, stainless steel nails for the cladding.

43:12She wanted to remind me, don't forget, it has to be stainless steel nails.

43:15I mean, I was like, can you, I mean, that, and I think that really shows what she was like.

43:23Stainless steel nails for the cladding kind of also describe her spirit, you know, as being stainless steel.

43:29Absolutely, that's the determination, you know.

43:37From being a dream home, suddenly the building has become a place for healing.

43:46And a sanctuary, there's something, the energy there is very, very special, and I have to say it's completely changed, you know, me inside as a person in how I feel.

44:03And I, I, I think that, you know, that now, now the house is not going to be a home for me and Pep as a, as a couple for the rest of our life.

44:13I, I feel very strongly that it will become a place for healing and sanctuary, not just for me, but for Pep's family and, and for other people who come into my life.

44:24I think that's really, really special, you know.

44:33It's at this point that I would normally wax lyrical about the building.

44:37But in this instance, I think we should leave the final word to its co-creator, Pep.

44:46I do love this book.

44:47And there is a sort of introduction at the front.

44:50And this was written four years ago, so three months after she'd received her terminal diagnosis.

44:59And she says,

45:01Who would have ever known the passing of events since this bound book was gifted to me?

45:07My sister has suggested I fill it with all my aspirations, dreams and goals.

45:14Well, I will use it to write all my ideas for one of my dreams.

45:19And that is to build a home with a heart for Melina and I.

45:30And were she still here, I think there's one thing that Pep might have added.