THE latest Grand Designs project, based in Herefordshire, was left unfinished in the episode that aired last night (November 1).

Furniture-maker Lucinda Leech had her heart set on building a house made entirely out of wood in the acre of remote woodland on her property in rural south Herefordshire. In the episode, she enlisted the help of her children Dan and Rosie Leech.

The idea had been born from Ms Leech’s lifelong love of wood, as she had gone to college to learn about cabinetmaking 45 years ago and then set up her own business.

While the family managed to complete the outside shell of the wooden home, the inside was left empty.

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Presenter Kevin McCloud first visited Ms Leech three years ago, and had returned to see how she was getting on.

In the car on the way, he said he knew it would have taken her longer than the 18 months she had hoped. He said: “It’s a perfect day to visit her woodland home. I first made this journey three years ago when she was just getting started on her wooden eco home.

“She thought of course it would take 18 months. The question is, does it merit the amount of time spent on it? Is it beautiful?”

On arrival, he shared his first impression of the home: “That is so beautiful. It is so precise. Look at it. Like a piece of furniture scaled up. It appears to float – it defies gravity and expectation. It’s beautiful.”

Ms Leech said the house had come to life exactly how she had hoped, despite the inside being incomplete. She predicted it may take her another couple of years to finish.

McCloud praised the Leech family for their ingenious money-saving techniques, like hexagonal moulds for the foundations of the house.

Initially, there were concerns over the moulds’ stability and tense scenes saw one of them come close to caving in, but luckily in the end it held.