It could be the biggest bargain on the property market: a two-storey house that’s being given away for nothing. The only drawback is that this des res is made entirely out of Lego – and you’ll have to find somewhere to put it.Top Gear presenter James May has just built the world’s first full-size Lego house – including a working toilet, hot shower and a very uncomfortable bed – using 3.3million plastic bricks. Toy storeys: James May and 1,000 helpers built the 20ft-tall Lego house on a wine estate in Surrey Stripe me: A close up of the fully functional house, which was built using 3.3million differently coloured bricks About 1,000 volunteers built the 20ft-tall house in Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, Surrey – but now the vineyard needs the land back toIf no one collects it by 8am on Tuesday, it will be hacked to bits with chainsaws. May says Legoland reneged on a deal to take it to their theme park in Windsor, Berkshire, after deciding it would be too expensive to move.
Meanwhile, miffed Legoland managers criticised May for building the house without their help.May said: ‘I’m very unhappy about it. I feel as if I’m having my arm twisted into saying “knock it down”. Blocked sink: The bathroom with a working taps and basin made from Lego Cosy: James in the bedroom - and you'll never guess what he made the bed, pillows and slippers from! Purrfect: The home even comes with its own cat ‘Legoland only told us on Thursday they were not going to take it. Block head: The TV presenter built the house for his forthcoming BBC show, James May Toy Stories 'Knocking it down is just wrong on every level. really lovely thing – it would break the hearts of the 1,000 people who worked like dogs to build it.’ May believes that an art gallery, a children’s home or a wealthy private collector might be interested in the house. entrepreneurs hoping to make money from it would face legal problems as
Legoland has an exclusive licence to use the plastic bricks as a public Lego has also banned May from dismantling the structure and giving away the bricks, which the company donated for his forthcoming BBC show James May’s Toy Stories. ‘It would dilute Lego’s sales – we can only give them to charity,’ May said. May slept in the house on Friday night, on ‘the most uncomfortable bed I’ve ever slept in’ – when he also discovered the house was not waterproof. Martin Williams, marketing director of Legoland Windsor, said: ‘We’re disappointed we were not consulted as our model-makers could have advised on building a movable structure. ‘In our opinion, the only way to move the Lego house now is to cut into it, which would compromise the structural integrity and present us with Plastic fantastic: James in the multi-coloured hallway Building blocks: James even used Lego to make kitchen utensils, including a toaster, whisk, bread bin and iron
Daily Block: The home, which is unwanted by Legoland, also includes reading material 'We considered all the options but due to timings, logistics and planning permission, we have decided it would not be viable to move the structure to the park.’Earlier this year the TV presenter made his debut in the Chelsea Flower show with a garden made entirely out of plasticine. in Plasticine boasted palm trees, bushes, a vegetable patch, grapevine, lawn, rockery and pond and featured two and a half tonnes of plasticine in 24 different colours.The 46-year-old claimed his effort is the biggest and most complex plasticine model ever made. He produced the the garden as part of his BBC 2 series James May's Toy Stories, where he aimed to 'get kids out of their bedrooms and away from their Playstations'. Bright idea: James stares through a multi-coloured window as light pours in the homeWorkmen started breaking down the structure which consisted of 3.3 million Lego bricks after no-one showed any interest in taking on the building.
Plans for Legoland to move it to their theme park fell through because transport costs were too high and despite a final Facebook appeal for someone to take it, no-one came forward. The plastic bricks are to be donated to charity once the house on the Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, Surrey, has been demolished. A spokesman for the estate said that the house had to be dismantled - because it did not have planning permission. "We expect that the house will have been completely taken apart by the end of the week and after that, the bricks are going to be donated to charity," he said. "It was never intended to be a permanent fixture on the site as it was a temporary structure that didn't have planning permission. "We were always happy to have it there for as long as was wanted." A move to Legoland in Windsor, Berks., fell through when staff realised it would have cost £50,000 pounds to dismantle it and reassemble it. A spokesman for the BBC said that no-one came forward with a last minute offer to take the building - despite a Facebook appeal.
James May was not available for comment today because he was filming in Romania.1. A Star Wars X-wingThe world record holder for the largest Lego model goes to the builders behind this recently unveiled scale model of the dogfighting spaceship from Star Wars. The LEGO Model Shop in Kladno, Czech Republic, took more than 17,000 man hours and 32 builders to put together this massive model. It consists of more than 5 million bricks and weighs approximately 23 tons. 2. A mecha robotThe X-wing project took the record away from the LEGO Store in Minnesota's Mall of America. There, a massive "mecha robot" called the "Herobot 9000" consists of more than 2.8 million LEGO bricks, and towers over customers at a height of more than 34 feet. 3. A two-story houseTop Gear host and toy enthusiast James May took on a series of insane toy challenges for a BBC special. That included building a livable, two-story house entirely from LEGO bricks. The final structure consisted of 3.2 million bricks, and wasn't just a giant box with LEGO walls.
May's team also put together an entire set of LEGO furniture, furnishings, housewares, and even bathroom fixtures — including a working shower and toilet. Sadly, the house was eventually demolished. 4. A 2004 Volvo XC60The folks at the model shop of California's Legoland amusement park decided to use their uncanny building powers to pull off one of the most impressive office pranks you'll see in your lifetime. General manager Peter Ronchetti discovered that his car had been towed out of his usual parking space and replaced with a perfect LEGO replica. It was made with exactly 201,076 bricks and weighed more than a ton. Sadly, it wasn't a working model, so Ronchetti probably had to bum a ride from someone in the office. 5. A harpsichordPiano enthusiast and LEGO sculptor Henry Lim combined his two greatest passions to create a working LEGO harpsichord that plays real music. The 150-pound LEGO instrument took two years to design and build, and consists of more than 100,000 bricks.