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It's the middle of the school holidays and a seaside village in North Devon is awash with tourists soaking up the glorious sun.

Mums and dads relax on the beach while children dig in the sand , building impressive sandcastles worthy of any Grand Designs' house.

Up until 2019 Croyde Bay was best known for being one of the UK's finest surfing beaches.

Set against a backdrop of sandy dunes with beautiful views across the headland, it's easy to see why families flock to the seaside hot spot each year.

But after Grand Designs' presenter Kevin McCloud visited Croyde for a now infamous episode of the Channel 4 show, the village rocketed to stardom for all the wrong reasons.

READ MORE: 'Saddest Grand Designs' owner says he thought he 'should be dead' as he shares dark past

Chesil Cliff House owner Edward Short spoke of his dreams for a clifftop mansion with panoramic views across the ocean.

But delay after delay led to spiralling costs and eventually the doomed build ground to a halt with Mr Short ultimately losing his marriage.

Locals described the unfinished project as an 'eyesore' and a 'blot on the landscape' but even now, with the house on the market for a cool £10million, some still can't forgive Mr Short for what he has done.

When we visited Croyde some villagers remained tightlipped while others were more than happy to chat about the 'cursed' home.

Some felt sorry for Mr Short while others simply wanted the house destroyed.

One furious man told us: "It's still a blot on the landscape – even now it's been finished.

"It's an eyesore. If I won the EuroMillions I would buy it just to knock it down for the village's sake.

"He had a perfectly good house there when he bought it. There was absolutely no need to build the new house."

Another villager pointed out that even though the property is for sale, it still isn't properly finished.

"It says in the particulars that you have to complete the finish yourself! If I was paying that sort of money I'd want to be able to move straight in."

While another lady just couldn't believe how things went so wrong.

She said: "It's crazy. He never had the money to do it in the first place. He's lost his wife and all for a house."

While waiting with other surfers to catch a 'big one', talk turned to the house, now clearly visible on the headland.

One surfer told the Daily Star: "It's a mad story. I watched the episode. He must have had something wrong with his brain. He lost everything didn't he?

"I would have stopped the build the moment they said it needed that much money spent to reinforce the building.

"I saw it was up for sale for 10million but the advert said it was an opportunity to design your own finish. What does that mean? Sounds incomplete to me. I'm not sure it will sell for that price."

A quick 5-minute drive around the snaking coastal road heading out of Croyde brings you to the distinctive whitewashed walls of Chesil Cliff.

Now, standing in its full glory, it's very easy to see just why Mr Short fell in love with the original plot with its breathtaking panoramic coastal views.

While parked up, we meet property consultant Nic Chbat from Match Property.co.uk who explains to us just why Chesil Cliff is so special.

"This is the most expensive property in the area full stop and it will be for a long time to come," says Nic.

"The nearest property to it is worth £5 million. It's double because of the location.

"It's such an amazing location and obviously what Edward has built, it's phenomenal and it's notorious now.

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"Most people are pretty blown away when they first set eyes on it.

"It's not one of those properties that you walk into and the spec is amazing because that isn't there yet.

"It's the design, the position, that panoramic view. That's the uniqueness and also when you're travelling here you go through Croyde and you think 'I'm not here yet'. 'Where is it? Where is it?'

"And you come right to the end and finally there it is sitting there like a little landmark of a jewel overlooking the whole of the coast.

"You've got Lundy Island in the background and on a day like this, when you have all the colours and the light, it's like the South of France.

"People say it's like the French Riviera because a lot of people don't know North Devon.

"They know Cornwall, Rock, Padstow because it has all been hyped. But this area, although it's well known, it's under the radar but people know it now because of the house."

But Nic tells us that, incredibly, potential buyers aren't wanting to snap up the beautiful home because of the views. They want to live there because of the notoriety!

He says: "The notoriety of it has added to the value I think. A lot of the people we've spoken to are interested because of the notoriety, not necessarily because of the property. They're like, 'I want that."

"I've got a client in Italy who's very, very interested and he's like 'I don't want the interiors pack. I'll bring all Italian marble'.

"He only wants it…he doesn't know anything about North Devon. He's just said 'I've seen it everywhere. I want it because it works for me and everyone would see that I own it'.

"It's all ego on his front. I doubt he's actually going to buy it. We've checked him out. He's legit and he could buy it if he wanted to. Whether he does or not we'll wait and see."

But one thing's for sure…

"When the entire plot is landscaped and you've got proper security gates and it's kitted out properly the value will just go up, up and up", says Nic.

He adds: "We've had people talking about putting in a £200,000 kitchen in. Most people's houses are worth £200,000 so that's the level. Their oven is a £30,000 oven.

"And if someone does utilise the helipad properly that would enhance the area. If someone is actually using it and people know there are helicopters coming and going, it raises the profile because everyone sees that his Lordship is coming back from London."

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