The Grand Designs that drove their owners to despair… and are now up for sale: Homes featured on TV makeover show set to make a small fortune for the ‘exhausted’ families 

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• A Yorkshire Castle that appeared on the TV show cost £915K to finish and is today on the market for £1.65M
• A Northamptonshire house - shaped like a doughnut - cost £400K to build and is for sale for £1M
• A Newport house is on the market for £1,795,000 - but the owners refuse to admit how much they spent on it

Everyone loves a good Grand Design - something that has helped to make it one of the most popular property shows on television.

Yet after pouring everything into designing and building their perfect homes - and putting up with the stress that comes with it - some owners have decided to move on with three Grand Designs currently on the market for sale.

The first on our list is a seven-bedroom castle in Yorkshire that is one of presenter Kevin McCloud's favourites.

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This Yorkshire castle first starred on Grand Designs in 2007 and is one of Kevin McCloud's favourites

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The seven-bedroom property featured for a second time on Grand Designs in 2009 when it was partly being used as a B&B

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It cost £915,000 to build - including the purchase of the original castle - and is currently on sale for £1,650,000

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Francis Shaw and his wife Karen were only just keeping afloat financially when Kevin revisited the property

It featured in two episodes of the show in 2007 and 2009 as it took several years to complete.

When Kevin returned, he stated 'things haven't gone to plan' when explaining how owner and architect Francis Shaw was 'bracing himself against the cold winds of the credit crisis and the property slump' with Francis' wife running it as a B&B.

It meant the couple could remain living at the property rather than being forced to sell up.

They originally bought the ruin for £165,000 and completed the build for another £750,000 - funded through the £400,000 sale of their previous house and a £350,000 mortgage.

Fast forward seven years and the property is now on the market for £1,650,000, a sum that would generate a pre-tax profit of £735,000.

On the first episode, Kevin described the property as a comfortable family home that had been 'dramatically reconstructed' to provide a building that has 'great authenticity'.

And standing on the roof terrace, he told the couple: 'This is like a penthouse apartment on the roof. I would pay a great deal of money for this view. I never really wanted to be in your shoes at any point during this build. But coming out here I am suddenly very envious. I could move into this place certainly.'

Promotional tour of Grand Designs favourite castle worth £1.65m

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The owners were forced to turn part of the property into a B&B to help with the running costs of the castle

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 The grand entrance and staircase welcomes B&B customers staying at the impressive property

Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud stayed at the B&B on his return to the castle in 2009

However, he went on to tell viewers: 'Two years of relentless work has left them exhausted and scarily remortgaged up to the hilt. This project has taken twice as long as intended. But for the first time in over 60 years, the castle is inhabited and no longer a ruin or an ancient monument.'

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Grand Design's Kevin said he would pay a 'great deal of money' for the views from the top of the castle

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The top floor opens out on to a roof terrace with a view of Yorkshire's rolling hills from the top of the castle

The second property on our list is a four-bedroom 'doughnut-shaped' property in Milton Keynes, which was built in a couple's back garden for £400,000.

It is currently on the market for £1million, which would produce a pre-tax profit of £600,000. 

The property featured on the show in 2014 and was described by presenter Kevin as 'magnificent'.

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This Milton Keynes property appeared on Grand Designs in 2014 and cost £400,000 to build

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The 'round house' has a 57'9 living area that is wrapped around a paved central courtyard

Peter Berkin and his wife Chard told Kevin they were still together despite the tension of building their own home. The design included a kitchen which comes with a bespoke worktop and there are polished concrete floors throughout

He said: 'It is almost as though a giant wooden spaceship has landed on top of Stonehenge and interlocked with it. It is beautiful.' 

The couple behind the build, Peter Berkin and his wife Chard, were at odds at the end of the project when Kevin asked if they would be happy there and whether it had been a good experience. 'Peter is going to be happy here,' said Mrs Berkin, before adding: 'It has been positive because I am still here with him.'

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The four-bedroom detached house is clad in Siberian Larch and has an unusual planted roof

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The spacious master bedroom suite has doors that open onto decking in the garden, making the most of the view

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There are luxury fixtures and fittings that highlight the curves of the unusual round house

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There are four sets of bifolding doors in the living area, which open out onto the garden

The final house for sale that starred on Grand Designs that is currently for sale is a six-bedroom house in Newport. 

It is currently on the market for £1,795,000, with the owners refusing to be drawn on how much they had spent on the build.

When the programme aired in 2009, Kevin asked owners Sarah and Dean Berry the cost of the project.

Inside the extravagant Newport Folly worth £2million

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This property in Newport featured on Grand Designs in 2009 and is currently on the market for £1,795,000

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Owners Sarah and Dean Berry refused to be drawn by Kevin on how much the huge project cost to complete

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It was built by couple Sarah and Dean Berry, who refused to disclose how much it cost to complete

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The property dates back to the 1720s and today includes an original tower with a library/cinema room on the ground floor

Mr Berry, who grew up on a council estate, said: 'You could spend an unlimited amount of money here just because of the size of the property. I haven't totted it up yet. I don't take this for granted.'

On the show, Kevin said: 'They chose the difficult route - the double jeopardy route in this case - of both restoration and new building. They commissioned some architecture and bought back to life a local landmark. The result is first-class really.'

He concluded: 'Anybody who goes on this type of architectural journey earns the right to add to a place, to make their mark in the landscape, to say we love this place... but also we have arrived.'

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Mr Berry said he could have spent unlimited amounts of money on the property due to its size

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The Grade II listed property in Newport has panoramic views across the South Wales countrysid

The home for a millionaire with something to hide: Texas mansion that was built in 1910 with its own secret VAULT and wine cellar goes on sale for $8million

• The Baldridge House, in Fort Worth, Texas, has been put on the market for $8million
• It was built over a three year period starting in 1910 by a banker called Earl Baldridge, and has landmark status 
• One of the house's selling points is a secret basement vault with a steel door originally used to store gold bars

A 107- year-old mansion in Fort Worth, Texas, has been put on the market and is expected to sell for upwards of $8million. 

The Baldridge House was built in 1910 by a banker Earl Baldridge, who hired architecture firm Sanguinet & Staats to build a three-story limestone mansion.

At the time the town was primarily used for the cattle market, but the home soon became a landmark due to its double-height limestone columns, intricately carved wood paneling.

Balrdige also built in a secret basement vault with an ornate steel door that was originally used to store gold bars.

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The Baldridge House was built over a three-year-period starting in 1910 by a banker called Earl Baldridge, who hired architecture firm Sanguinet & Staats to build a three-story limestone mansion

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The couple have owned the home for nearly 10 years and Peters estimates that they spent some $4.5million on the renovation, including half a million dollars just on landscaping

Though it has been over 100 years since the mansion was first built, all of its exquisite features remain, including the vault door, which today opens to a media room. 

The Baldridge House was registered as a Texas landmark in 1978.

Paun Peters, president of Western Production Company, bought the house in 2007 when it had fallen into a state of relative disrepair. 

'It had been foreclosed on by the bank. The previous owner was a personal injury lawyer who'd won a big case, started spending money like crazy, and then his case was overturned on appeal,' Peters told Bloomberg.

He and his wife had been looking for an empty lot to build on when they found that the mansion was for sale. 

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The Baldridge house is 14,000 square feet and has a gym on one of the three floors 

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The enormous wine cellar in the home is pictured. When the town was primarily a cattle depot, the home stood out due to its double-height limestone columns, intricately carved wood paneling and secret basement vault with an ornate steel door that was originally used to store gold bars

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The house is made up of six bedrooms which still boast the early 20th century style. Entering the home, a marble foyer leads to a large entry staircase, a formal dining room with a coffered ceiling, a wood paneled office, a wine cellar, multiple living areas, and a basement guest suit with its own kitchen, living area, and breakfast room

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The Baldridge House was registered as a Texas landmark in 1978

Peters explained that the pair 'lusted' for the house, and that his wife 'always dreamed of having herself in there and walking around on one of those balconies'. 

They bought the 1.5-acre lot for about $3million, and after two years his wife was finally able to use the balconies. 

The house was livable, but Peters explained that the previous owners started projects and did not finish them. 

The couple have owned the home for nearly 10 years and Peters estimates that they spent some $4.5million on the renovation, including half a million dollars just on landscaping. 

Peters said that they added things like fountains and colorful, foreign plants, and that they had an almost 'unlimited budget'. 

'We even got in Italian cypress trees from California,' he told Bloomberg. 

He said that he was unfazed by the fact that the renovation cost more than double what it was estimated, and that it was 'justified' in retrospect. 

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The home has significant outdoor space. The Peters spent more than half a million dollars on landscaping alone

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They bought the 1.5-acre lot for about $3million but did not live in it until they put in about two years worth of work 

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Mrs Peters lusted after the home before buying it, and said that she always saw herself walking on the balconies 

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An ornate gazebo is on one of the mansion's many back-yard balconies 

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One of the home's selling points if the unique steel-doored secret vault in the mansion's basement. At one time it held gold bars, but now it is where the entertainment center is 

After more than eight years living in the home, the Peters' are putting the property on the market with an affiliate of Christie's International Real Estate. The asking price is $8million. 

They have decided to move because Peters's company sold its oil-producing properties and want to find a place in Dallas closer to where their two daughters live.

The home is 14,000 square feet and has six bedrooms across the three floors. 

Entering the home, a marble foyer leads to a large entry staircase, a formal dining room with a coffered ceiling, a wood paneled office, a wine cellar, multiple living areas, and a basement guest suit with its own kitchen, living area, and breakfast room, reported Bloomberg. 

The property also has a pool, multiple terraces, a cabana, an outdoor pizza oven, and two significant garages. 

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The couple put nearly $3.5 million of work into the house, which was over double the expected $1.8million

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The back yard of the house, which is on 1.5 acres, has multiple terraces, a cabana and an outdoor pizza oven

The property also has a swimming pool with a diving board in the back yard