My Floating Home Series 2

After 30 years living on River Itchen in Southampton, Gerald Pragnell sets out to design and build an extraordinary new home – a futuristic fiberglass house, made on his ‘doorstep’ at Shamrock Quay Marina, designed and built by his 27 year old son, Aidan. The home is made from scratch by carefully building up layers of fiberglass to create two hollow hull sections. Gerald visits the job site often, adding details to the design and keeping the pressure on his son. From underfloor heating to music speakers in his shower, Gerald wants his new home to be full of luxurious fixtures, causing delays to the build schedule. By winter, Gerald ends up the proud owner of a unique modern home, with stunning interiors and space to entertain, and a very proud father, acknowledging what his son Aidan has achieved.

Adventurous young professionals, Ani Ridley and Charles Anderson are taking on the project of a lifetime – they’ve bought a busted old oil barge, ‘the Dutchess 1910’, that they want to turn into their rustic first home. Based on the Thames in Hampton, south west London, the couple have a tight budget which leaves no option but to do nearly all the work themselves. With no experience, are they biting off more than they can chew? Can they make some big savings by trying to make the stove, interiors and wheelhouse themselves?

Ani and Charles want to create an open plan living area, with antique brass windows and portholes, heated by a custom handmade wood burner. brand new hand built oak wheelhouse which will lead into their industrial steel kitchen. This will have corten steel for splashbacks and a concrete worktop…. all made by them.

As they get stuck in, it’s a steep learning curve that comes close to costing them dearly. The couple visit a specialist blacksmith who helps them build their stove from a scavenged iron buoy. Faced with a £20k quote, the last big challenge for Charles was to learn how to build the wheelhouse. It’s a long road – will the pair pull off a near miracle to produce a Thames floating home fit for a cool stylish first home?  

Valentin Martin and Daria Cabai run their own naval architecture company in London. They are passionate about sailing and living on the water. Their dream is to escape their cramped city apartment with their young son, Yves to live on the Thames in their own floating home. They want to moor it right in the heart of the capital under the iconic Tower Bridge. 

They create their own design converting a century old barge into a three tiered contemporary floating apartment. The commission is given to a specialist boat building company, SRF, in Netherlands – the world-renown country for living on waterways.

The biggest challenge is moving Valentin and Daria’s finished new home back to London. The renovated barge must travel a colossal 290 miles across the North Sea - one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.  After a hair-raising journey they finally make it to England and their eye catching floating apartment becomes a new attraction next to Tower Bridge.

This episode follows Lee and Justine Oakley who want to transform an old steel hull into a 2 storey floating house on the River Medway near Rochester, England. They want a spacious open plan kitchen and living space, outside areas with great views, and 4 cosy bedrooms and ensuites below deck and all built with just a £300,000 budget.

Their builder Joe Allodi and his team have just 16 weeks to do this but from day one they have to battle bad weather and the enormous daily tide that lifts and drops the boat by several metres twice a day. This height difference and the long walk from the shore to the hull, makes bringing any materials and equipment aboard a monumental headache. So when Justine’s huge ¾ ton diesel powered oven needs to be lifted on board, it is a major problem. So much so, that the team end up breaking it down piece by piece and hauling it across the long slippery pontoon and up on to the houseboat. When the weight of the oven causes the house to tilt, Joe has to find a quick solution to balance the tilting house. The result is an amazing house with sleek modern interiors, heated by Justine’s prized oven. Modern portholes bring light into the lower level, and the upper decks provide the perfect platform on which to soak in spectacular views of the river.

In this episode London based Karen Boswell struggles to afford her own home, so she decides to design and build a stylish houseboat, which she plans to moor near the Grand Union Canal. She’s gone to town on her modern industrial bathroom design, indulging in a set of twin showers as well as a bath. But space becomes a problem for the build team who are tasked with constructing her rather large bed, leaving Karen with a dilemma. Is she going to have to compromise on her design? In the end this novice sailor cruises down the canal at the helm of her new home. She has a stunning living space with modern bespoke interiors, endless waterside views from huge brass trimmed windows, and a sumptuous deck on which to entertain and soak in the tranquil ambience of the stunning Colne Valley.  

Fed up with her cramped city apartment, sportswear manager Marsha sets out to build a spacious two story floating home on the idyllic Multnomah Channel near Portland, Oregon with an open living space and unobscured views of the river. Father and daughter build team, Ryan and Aime have never built a floating house before, and are doubly challenged when they’re hit by an onslaught of snow, ice and epic flooding. Despite severe delays due to the weather and last minute changes, the dramatic ten month long build is worth the effort—Marsha ends up the proud owner of a stunning home with spacious interiors and fantastic views.

Now that they’re 6 children have finally all fled the nest, Allen Lacroix and Jill Gamblen want to create a new home..a home that floats on the Annacis Channel, just south of Vancouver, Canada. Their million dollar mansion will be the perfect place to entertain with its enormous open plan living area, 3 outside decks, luxury master bedroom with their own steam room and a huge hot tub on the top terrace with amazing views across to Annacis Island. 

These luxury features don’t come without complications – racing against the bad weather head builder Larry Kenmare has to make sure the 200 ton house is perfect. That the windows – all 26 of them – are installed in time and protect the home from the potentially hostile weather conditions but covering it with a special cement composite cladding.

This remarkable 200 ton floating home then needs to be launched by sliding it down a slipway before tipping into the high tide of the Fraser River. This dangerous event will be controlled by expert Matt Tobias and his team.  Then the house will be towed up river navigating through strong currents and frozen swing bridges before rounding the North tip of Annacis Island to its final mooring site. A perfect place for their future married life together and a tranquil spot offering incredible views of the surrounding wildlife and crystal waters. 

Joan Rosenstock is a floating home veteran but she’s taking the plunge and sinking her savings into a pair of brand new monster mansions worth a million dollars each! She’s not going to hold back on the high end finishes, installing luxury open plan lounges and kitchens, a sun deck on each of the three stories and a custom lighting plan to ‘zone’ the space.

The only hitch is that they’re being built way up in Vancouver, so will face a perilous 150-mile sea voyage down to Seattle. Unfazed, Joan sets her build team to work and 12 months later the homes are ready for their journey of jeopardy... in the middle of winter. Back at Joan’s mooring in Seattle, we follow a second team as they race to move four other floating homes and clear the site in preparation for the new arrivals. The pair of million dollar mansions squeezes through the locks and canals of Seattle at night before a team of tugs ease them into their moorings. Finally, we see the luxury interiors come together as the dream becomes reality for Joan.

Ben Spokes and wife Michelle have always been caravan fanatics, even running their own vintage caravan club. They found on a auction website a rare British relic…an amphibious caravan that needed rescuing – a Caraboat. She was named The Frog Prince and was made 48 years ago…but was a wreck.

For four months, engineer Ben tackles everything from engine problems, to re-building the fibreglass shell, re-wiring and updating the interiors. They want to renovate this antique, into a fun and functional holiday getaway vehicle…that can travel by road or by river.

With Ben getting stuck in with the engineering, his wife Michelle is in charge of making the upholstery, the finer details. But then Britain’s coldest winter for years reeked havoc and hardship as they tried to renovate the Frog Prince.

After months of hard work and graft, its ready to launch ceremoniously next to the famous SS Great Britain, in Bristol City harbour. But will this fragile fibreglass blast from the past actually float?

Over on the other side of the Atlantic…

Canadian Linda Nixon loves nature and the outdoor life. Her dream is to build a floating home and moor it at Maple Bay Marina on Vancouver Island. Her plan is to position the home so it overlooks her favourite nature reserve – Chisolm Island.

She commissions a local company to take on the huge challenge of building her a float home with massive windows. The extra weight of the glass requires complex engineering to stop the walls from collapsing. The 80 ton build proves to be a nightmare tow to its’ mooring; the slow pace puts the home right in the landing path of the island’s float planes and the difficult steering makes for a treacherous journey through the rocky shallows of the bay.

Finally Linda Nixon achieves her wildlife dream – a spectacular floating home nesting on the emerald waters of the bay, offering 360 degree views of the surrounding nature and local otters as new neighbours. 

Boat lover Laurence Kent has always lived by the water. Previously living on a small narrowboat moored in his own marina in East Farleigh, he had dreams of an upgraded pad. A comfortable living space on the water, that was big enough for his grandson to have a sleepover but small enough to fit in his marina. Laurence put his faith in the hands of Richard Homewood, an engineer that has designed a new floating home with a bespoke micro- home, called The Riverpod. 

To save costs, Laurence hopes to fit out the interior himself and with a background in renovation, he would like to re-design the layout of the Pod, offering a larger bedroom and bigger open plan kitchen/living area. 

Before it is complete, there is a difficult challenge to get the Riverpod from Richard’s yard to Laurence’s marina. A tight squeeze down Kent roads, a launch and then towing the home down the river Medway … that’s if the snow doesn’t cause a problem or flood warnings done stop the final bit of the journey. Laurence hopes to finish the interior in just 2 weeks, just in time for his birthday and to enjoy the first rays of the spring Sun. 

Arizonian action duo, Jan and Don Hansen, love to holiday on the Willamette River in Oregon, so they’ll design and build the ultimate floating summerhouse, giving them unparalleled access to the water. Costing 450 thousand dollars, they want vast outdoor decking, a custom built steel and wood staircase, a wood burning stove and an open plan living space. 

Building this supersized summerhouse will not be easy – the local build team face delays as the harsh Oregon winter takes hold. They also come close to calamity as a weight imbalance threatens to capsize the floating foundation! 

The exquisite staircase is installed and we’re onboard for the tow down river, as the crew has to dodge float-piercing logs to make it to Jan and Don’s mooring. Finally, we discover if this dream summerhouse matches Jan and Don’s exacting expectations.