Chesil Cliff House, the North Devon clifftop property whose troubled construction was chronicled on Grand Designs, is at the centre of a money-laundering investigation into a British financier accused of a £1.3billion fraud scheme. The five-bedroom lighthouse-style house famously bankrupted its original owner, Edward Short, whose marriage also collapsed under the strain of the decade-long build, and it will now be sold again rather than occupied, prolonging its reputation among some observers as a "cursed" property.

Short and his wife Hazel spent their life savings on the project before going bankrupt, and the finished house was sold last year for £4.15million, well below its original £10million asking price, with Short receiving none of the proceeds. The property is now linked to Paresh Raja, a financier who built lending firm Market Financial Solutions after allegedly borrowing up to £2.6billion from banks and investors, and who is accused in court filings of diverting funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle including multiple Aston Martins, Ferraris and Rolls-Royces; Raja, believed to be based in Dubai, denies any wrongdoing.