Starship Voyager dumped into skip

One Trekkie's dream of boldly going where no interior designer has gone before appears to be over – thanks to his estranged wife, who has decided his starship Voyager-themed flat isn't entirely suitable for the terrestrial housing market. Former DJ Tony Alleyne, 58, has spent 10 years and a wad of cash coverting the one-bed …

[Anonymous Coward]

I have always enjoyed The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, but that does not mean I will be decorating my house with spurs and lube.

Time for someone to grow up and accept real life for what it is.

[Anonymous Coward]

'Real Life' is whatever you make of it, not something that you need to mindlessly conform to. Why should we 'grow up' out of video games, Star Trek and posting turds through objectionable neighbour's letter boxes?!

[Bassey]

Re: Real Life

"Why should we 'grow up' out of video games, Star Trek and posting turds through objectionable neighbour's letter boxes?!"

Erm, because it will send you bankrupt, your wife will leave you leave and you'll be left destitute and in tears. Man, you really weren't paying attention, were you!

[Frank Bough]

Yes

YOU should.

[ItsNotMe]

@Anonymous Coward 13:00 GMT

Still living in Mummy's basement are we? Hmmm.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ItsNotMe

No: Still enjoying what life has to offer, rather than becoming an embittered drone.

It's ok, though: I can totally understand why those who feel pressured into 'growing up', breeding, participating in a 2 hour commute and suchlike like to try to look down on those with a little bit of élan and imagination left in them.

[Tapeador]

@ AC turdster 13:00

You really are an Anonymous Coward, aren't you?!

[Thomas 4]

Seems perfectly reasonable

After all, the man has put his heart and soul and ten *years* of hard work into it. So on top of bankruptcy, losing his home and a failed business, why not completely destroy the one thing he had to keep him going? I'm sure he'll be very appreciative of your sentiments. Jackass.

[jake]

@Thomas 4

Perhaps if he had put his heart and soul into his RealLife[tm] for the past ten years, he wouldn't be facing this "hardship"?

Perspective, man. Perspective ...

[David Neil]

Did I imagine the bit where it said his missus had been paying the mortgage while he was building his playden?

Time to grow up

[Scorchio!!]

Re: Seems perfectly reasonable

I'm sure his wife will be only too willing to keep up the payments for him, estranged or not, divorcing or not. After all, is it not the role of wives to treat their husbands as mothers do their sons?

[Ian Johnston]

Other people's money

Having fun is all very well, but less attractive when it's done at the expense of other people: the creditors he stiffed for £165,000 when he went bust and the ex wife who paid for the flat.

[Greg J Preece]

I've said it before, and I'll say it as many times as it takes for idiots to understand it: fun things do not stop being fun because you get older, and the definition of "fun" is personal. Anyone who subscribes to the notion that they may no longer do something because they have passed some magical imaginary number boundary has voluntarily made themselves more boring.

Let the nerd have his fun. That goes for his wife, too. Hell, in the current housing market, something unique like that would probably make selling easier!

Cue an internet whip-round to buy out his wife's half of the property.

[Aaron Em]

There is a big difference

between 'let the nerd have his fun' and an albatross of a flat that costs a bomb in increasingly expensive electrical power and won't sell in a million years because, meticulous reproduction of a fictional universe that it is, normal people won't want to live there. Too, his wife having paid eighteen years' worth of the mortgage, I tend to suspect her ownership interest in the property amounts to a fair bit more than half -- too bad for him, if he'd paid the mortgage off before he started remodeling, he wouldn't be having this problem now.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Greg

"Let the nerd have his fun. That goes for his wife, too."

She *is* having her fun. Hence the shitcaning of the beloved set.

[Anonymous Coward]

You grumpy asshat...

If he likes it then why not, his hobby is no harm to anyone else - and if you'd spent 10 years on your hobby and it went in the bin you'd be pretty pissed I'm sure.

Get back under your bridge!

[Is it me?]

When is a hobby a hobby, and when an obscession

And it's all well and good having a hobby, if you can afford it.

We are all free to make our decisions, and life is free to show us the consequences.

A shame it has to go, none the less.

[Annihilator]

re: you grumpy asshat

"his hobby is no harm to anyone else"

Except his to-be-ex-wife, y'know, the owner of the property? It won't sell any time soon at its correct price. You're right, he's perfectly entitled to a hobby/obsession and good luck to him, but spunking close to (what's now) £100K on permanent fixtures/fittings to a property that's not in your name isn't the brightest idea, and from what I can tell they'd separated when he kicked off his project, so knew this must be on the cards at some point.

[Graham Dawson]

Annihilator, what is its "correct price"? Goods are priced at a level the market can bear. There is no "correct price", there is only the price a buyer is willing to pay.

[Annihilator]

@Graham Dawson

In the case of the seller, it's the highest they can get away with. Chances are good they can get it higher if they're not being hampered by £100K worth of day-glo covered MDF in the living room.

[Tom 13]

When the flat doesn't sell at any price in a fair time frame

the problem is the design, not the market. And when you ain't paying your own bills, you have to yield to the one who is. Which is especially bad news when it's an ex, even if the divorce was a "friendly" one.

[Anonymous Coward]

A

"I have always enjoyed The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, but that does not mean I will be decorating my house with spurs and lube."

PRAT

[Anonymous Coward]

Just an hour ago...

... found this in a signature on a model railway forum:

"Born to be child -- Für eine glückliche Kindheit ist es nie zu spät"

["It's never too late for a happy childhood".]

[Phil W]

Compromise is futile?

Seems a bit of a shame tbh, shame they couldn't compromise and try and sell it as is first. If I had a spare pile of cash lying around I'd buy it.

[Anonymous Coward]

@shame they couldn't compromise...

You've never got divorced have you? It's not a great time for compromise

[Anonymous Coward]

That depends on the people ...

[Is it me?]

Rather than throw it in the skip, put it on eBay, someone's bound to want some of it.

[Smallbrainfield]

He should apply for listed status,

or enter it in the Turner prize.

[TeeCee]

"...or enter it in the Turner prize."

Fat chance there as it doesn't qualify:

1) It looks like what it's supposed to be.

2) It's not completely shit.

[Anonymous Coward]

But if he entered the skip containing the all the bits after they'd been ripped out of the flat then it could be an incisive post-modernist comment on the ephemeral nature of modern culture

[BorkedAgain]

@AC 13:30

You've done this before, haven't you?

[oddie]

:'(

I guess now that it's gone news-worty some rich trekkie might pick it up as it is? maybe?

from the mood-lit picture he appears to have done pretty good work :) I had to read the description to make sure that was actually his flat and not just a promo shot from the series :)

[LaeMing]

Yeah but,

It has been up on the 'net and in the news extensively before. With a view to getting it sold. No-one bit. I think even the mostdie-hard treckie balks at that point.

[C 2]

RE: rich trekkie

... is an oxymoron

[Adrian Challinor]

It's a flat Jim, but not as we know it

That is all.

[Lord Midas]

Don't bin it..

He should just move it into his garage (if he has one). Then she can have the flat all doyleyed up with kitten plates hanging on the walls, and he can have his Trek garage to chill in.

[Doug Glass]

Brings whole new meaning ...

...to the phrase "Get a life". Or in the case of Sci-Fi, "Get a frakking life". And grow up in the process.

[Anonymous Coward]

Because it's far better to surrender your identity and become a mindless conformist, isn't it?

You just sit there and watch your 12 hours of soaps a week, it's the adult thing to do after all.

[Lamont Cranston]

@Norfolk 'n' Goode

All well and good, but it's not his house.

There's a difference between living the life you choose (nothing wrong with clinging to the passions of youth, imho), and acting like mummy is still looking after you.

Sadly, this guy is firmly in the latter camp.

[Anonymous Coward]

"The difference between men and boys is merely the size of their toys!"

Why should he grow up? Plenty of people like playing at being kids when they're adults. From extreme end of the scale infantilists to more conventionally accepted nerds playing with computers and video games. What's mending cars other than a full size Mecanno kit?

Leave him alone!

[LaeMing]

I keep looking at this 'life' I am supposed to be getting.

I just don't see what is so great about being like everyone else.

(Admitadly, I go to some trouble not to let my hobbies bankrupt me or financially disadvantage others, which isn't the case here, but that is more about getting a brain than getting a life.)

[Graham Marsden]

Re: "Get a life"

What, you mean become a mindless drone assimilated into the mass collectivised culture rather than trying to be an individual?

Hmm, that's an interesting thought, I wonder where I've heard it before...?

[MJI]

Assimilated

Like the Borg?

What is wrong with being an individual?

I still buy the odd toy* and I am getting towards 50

* OK video game character model, mine is sitting there ready to shoot people attacking my desk!

[Tatsky]

I don't understand the problem...

Just throw a few twigs in a vase, throw some candles on the console, maybe a rug in front of the captains chair. Sorted. The little I have learnt about interior design from the wife are:

Twigs in a vase = Good

Empty vase on shelf = Good

Candles = Good (Candles should never be lit)

Cushions same colour as Candle = Very Good

Rug = Perfection

[Silverburn]

You forgot:

'doilies' = good

'throws' = good, as long as it matches the rug.

[Annihilator]

Combination

You forgot the combination:

Candles in a vase = amazing (candles should still not be lit)

Or the Christmas alternative:

Twigs spraypainted gold or silver in a (inexplicable different) vase = Festive and good

[Anonymous Coward]

What is the difference between a 'throw' and a 'blanket'?

Everything needs to be terracota or cream.

Vases with stones in them for the twigs to rest in.

[Graham Dawson]

"What is the difference between a 'throw' and a 'blanket'?"

About thirty quid.

[Greg J Preece]

"Candles = Good (Candles should never be lit)"

Captain, I appear to have nasally ejected a carbonated beverage. Should I scan it for life forms?

[perlcat]

Don't forget the seventy-five pillows.

All different shapes and sizes. All must be arranged in a certain order every morning, all must be carefully stored every evening. The one with the blue stripes on a green background goes over *here*, and the one with the green stripes on the blue background goes over *there*.

Her: "Don't forget that dusky muave, dusty rose, and a pale purplish pink are entirely different colours and belong in entirely different locations."

Me: "What? They're all the *same*."

Her: "Go sleep on the muave couch."

Me: "WHICH ONE'S THAT?"

crazywoman. (n). Usually pronounced [woom-uhn]. Sometimes the crazy is silent, but it is always there.

IGMC -- I'll need it for whatever the hell couch she's pointing at. I think it's some god-awful shade of pink.

[Anonymous Coward]

crazywoman. (n). Usually pronounced [woom-uhn].

The 'crazy' may be silent, but if you ever find a silent 'woman' please introduce me!

[Anonymous Coward]

Can you answer an advanced theological question?

Where do tealights fit into all this? The useless bloody things cast no useful amount of light or heat but appear to be needed by the skip load in order to achieve full domestic harmony.

[Graham Dawson]

Mike, tealights are used in my household in the little oil burner I crafted for the wife. I've not really see the point of them anywhere else, but apparently they're quite good for keeping certain kinds of food warm.

Other than that I don't allow candles except for special occasions because they're a fire hazard in a flat with two kitties hanging about.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bitch!

It's those bloody home makeover shows that say everything should be beige when you sell a house.

It's an entire waste of time as everyone decorates when they move in anyway so even if they didn't like the design the new owners could bin/sell it.

Instead the new owners have dull decoration that they feel guilty about removing as it's only just been put up.

But I guess if it isn't destroyed already the best chance of finding someone who does want it like it is is with an Register article!

[Anonymous Coward]

Hah, my landlady is like this. Just got a new tenant moving into our shared house and the landlady had the room that was going spare repainted from a rather nice shade of light blue to magnolia.

All painting your house in magnolia shows is that you have no imagination or soul and that you could probably do with having a full tin of paint to the head.

[Anomalous Cowherd]

Duh.

Your landlady doesn't live in the room so she doesn't give a toss what color it is, so long as it rents. Pale colors make it look bigger, and no-one was ever turned off a room because the walls were too plain. Put a poster up for chrissake.

Sheesh. Tenants....

[Anonymous Coward]

@Anomalous Cowherd

If my landlady wasn't a raving mental I would agree but she insists on fully painting the rooms and common areas whenever getting a new tenant in despite the fact that they've always been kept pristine and don't need it. Light blue is a pale colour by the way and also a colour that the new tenant liked the look of so having it magnolia'd is more than slightly annoying for him because now it is depressingly bland.

And not everyone wants to cover their walls with posters.

[chr0m4t1c]

"All painting your house in magnolia shows is that you have no imagination or soul and that you could probably do with having a full tin of paint to the head."

Unfortunately, that describes a lot of potential buyers. I've known people decide against buying a property because they didn't like the seller's sofa or the colour of the spare bedroom walls.

And when you point out to them that the sofa will leave with the seller or that they can paint the bedroom walls whatever colour they like, you always get a reply that starts "I know, but...".

[perlcat]

Difference between nympho, prosty, and housewife:

"Is that all?"

"That's all!"

"Beige. I'm gonna paint the ceiling beige."

[Andy Miller]

Mutable

This has always amazed me.

Whenever I have looked at a property I've gone round tapping the walls to see which ones are stud-work and therefore easily movable. Who cares what colour they are ? (struth !)

[Graham Marsden]

Re: Magnolia...

... Magnolia does have its place, especially when most of the interior rooms in the house you've just bought were painted Terracotta!!!

[Field Marshal Von Krakenfart]

Beige Alert!

No No!!! "Magnolia" or "Barley White", never call it beige.

[Anonymous Coward]

Magnolia is so yesterday

Now it's 'taupe', or if you want to get on to the bleeding edge of theoretical interior design - 'oatmeal'.

[MJI]

We bought a house with 2 colour walls

Living room, part painted, cream and red (2 or 3 walls).

Soon had a coat of light green (a nice living room colour for us) over it

[Southern]

Good effort on the interior decor, very impressive.

Shame about the divorce and bankruptcy getting in the way though.

[Aaron Em]

Ever hear the one

about the guy who built a boat in his basement?

She's been paying the mortgage for eighteen years, which means probably she's paid by far the majority of the money that's gone into paying back that loan. Too bad for Mr. Alleyne, I suppose, but it would seem she's got a considerable right to the final say in what happens to the place -- not least because, after all, he's turned it into something which I very much doubt she finds habitable. (Hard to blame her; neither would I, and neither would you, really -- Star Trek is designed to be a TV show, not something people actually inhabit, and as you can see from pictures of the place it rather shows.)

If anything, the whole debacle should serve as a salutary lesson in the importance of ensuring one actually does own one's magnum opus.

[squilookle]

Actually, I'm sure they could get more for it as it is. There is bound to be someone somewhere that would pay a fortune for it. If they restore the flat to some kind of conventional decor, then it'a just going to be a flat for sale...

The difficulty would be finding the buyer, but that is what the internet is for...

[Jaruzel]

Nope...

It's been on the market for years, and garnered a fair amount of publicity - No-one wanted it.

I would guess it had something to do with its location, and that it's a tiny one bedroom flat that no longer has anywhere for a bed.

[miknik]

How can location be a problem?

Once you engage warp doesn't space shift around it?

[g e]

The real issue here is...

WTF she has been paying the mortgage on the place for the last 17 years if she doesn't live there...

That guy's pad has been on the TV and everything, can't be like she didn't know he was Trekking it out.

[Annihilator]

Easy

It's presumably in her name and *not* paying the mortgage would cause the bank to repossess. Selling may not have been economically viable due to either negative equity or given the timescales involved, an endowment mortgage with a significant shortfall. He may also have been paying rent. Finally, selling a fixed asset in your name before a divorce isn't always the smartest move either as its harder to prove the money raised by the sale isn't both of theirs.

[jason 7]

Bought it 17 years ago?

At the bottom of the market. A one bedroom flat would maybe have cost around £30000.

May well have been paying £50 a month mortgage on it.

I know as I got my one bedroom flat in a city centre for that around then.

Currently got it down to £40 a month.

[Jess--]

one bedroom flat for £30,000 at the bottom of the market???

that would have been around the time I was buying 3 bedroom houses for £28,000 then.

sold them off again before the most recent crash for between £140,000 and 180,000 (last one sold a week before the run on northern rock)

[jason 7]

If you sold a 3 bed room house for just £140k before the crash it must have been a bit of a shithole.

[Can't think of anything witty...]

@Greg J Preece

Agreed.

To quote Shigeru Miyamoto: "We do not stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing"

[Simon Harris]

who actually said this first?

I've seen it attributed to various people (George Bernard Shaw and Benjamin Franklin amongst others) - Does anyone know where it originated?

[Andus McCoatover]

I'm having trouble dating the article in the link below

But, if correct, seems he got a nice pile of wedge from it.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/49211-star-trek-flat-sold-on-ebay

[Inventor of the Marmite Laser]

May 2007

http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/star-trek-apartment-sold-on-ebay/offbeat-news

[web_bod]

Oi Google when was that news?

May 2007 - http://www.trektoday.com/news/310503_03.shtml

I guess the sale fell through.

[Jaruzel]

Trojan Bidders

When it came to actually paying up, none of the bidders were serious. :(

[Annihilator]

Trojan bidders, or illegal sellers??

As it turns out, not his effing house to sell!

[nordwars]

Awesome house!

Terrible business idea!

[Treeman]

A Star Trek fan was married? This is clearly a work of fiction.

[Law]

I lol'd, thumbed up.... then remembered I was a trek fan... :(

[Anonymous Coward]

The interior design doesn't concern me..but a married Star Trek fan?

[Scott Thomson]

Don't throw it in the skip!

I'm positive that the bloke could make a mint selling off different parts of the decor online.

Throwing it in the skip would just be a total waste.

[LongTallTim]

So - what happened...

...after this?

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/49211-star-trek-flat-sold-on-ebay

[mittfh]

Perhaps...

...instead of skipping it, he carefully dismantles it, so allowing him to re-erect it in wherever he moves to (or, if that's not possible, sell or auction the components off - which would net him a bit of money to boot). Of course, take lots of photos of the place from all angles before dismantling so a record's left for posterity.

[Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face]

In tears about his loosing his Start Trek bedroom, but not so fussed about the divorce. There's a country music song in there somewhere.

♪♫ My wife ran off with my best friend and I sure do miss him... ♪♫

[Annihilator]

Reminds me

Of the joke about the man who walks in on his wife and his best friend:

"Mate, I have to sleep with her, but *you*??"

[Mad Mike]

Wife was happy once.

As he managed to attract a wife and she tolerated this, presumably she enjoyed it up to point as well. Did she have an outfit? Did she enjoy a good beaming in the captains chair? Maybe she liked him to let fly at weapons control?

[Anonymous Coward]

Deja Vu

This bloke is on the news every year, showing off his flat and saying it's up for sale. He appears to me to be a self publicist because it really is like Groundhog Day, seeing him pop up again in the news with the same story.

Every year another news programme (or even one that's already covered his flat in previous years) presents him as a new story - the star trek fan who's boldly decorated his flat like no one has before and is now putting his beloved masterpiece up for sale. There's the obligatory tour of the flat, ending with the reporter standing on the transmat pad thing, signing off and then fading away in the most terrible effect ITN/BBC London/Five/Sky could knock up with the equipment they have.

As for making a living creating USS Enterprise décor for other trekkies, that's never going to work for such a dead franchise. Someone should have cashed in making Tardis sheds over the last seven years, though I think interest in Dr Who is waning too, so don't go do that now if you're still reading this.

[Graham Bartlett]

@AC

"his hobby is no harm to anyone else"

Except the person who actually owns the house. He's gone bankrupt and he's not paid into the mortgage for 18 years, so it's almost guaranteed that he no longer has a share in it and can only be renting it. And FWIW, he did the work *after* they'd split up.

If he really wants it, he can always get himself a mortgage and buy it himself. Sure, he'll be paying top whack for having no deposit, and he'll have to work his arse off to cover repayments. If it really mattered to him and he had a shred of maturity, he'd be doing that. But if he had a shred of maturity and not just a gross sense of entitlement, he wouldn't be here in the first place.

[Darren Barratt]

Simple solution

Obvoiusly ditch all the MDF stuff and reconfigure the holographic projection suite in his new house to replicate the bridge

[Adam T]

Dunno what his problem is

He's had a free ride for 18 years.

I don't care what people do in their own homes. Doing it in someone else's home though, he's lucky to have gotten away with it this long.

[Anonymous Coward]

Could have seen this coming...

Yes, I'm sorry to see this going on and I can absolutely understand that this is an emotional blow for the fellow. But seriously... Its not as if he couldn't have seen this coming. I mean; you don't go bankrupt over one night.

IMO this looks like a classic example of overdoing it. You cannot cast certain responsibilities aside for the sole purpose of following your dream. That is; unless you can afford it and it seems he could not.

Still... All cynicism aside I have to wonder; there are more people in the world who love Star Trek, Surely the pair should be able to sell or rent the condo as it is now ? I bet you could get more for a "themed flat" than a regular one, especially amongst fans.

And if you managed to rent it you may even setup a steady cash flow.

[Stevie]

Bah!

The lesson here is "don't turn someone else's property into a theatrical set" and nothing more, really.

It is very sad for the misguided twit who thought he had permanent squatting rights, but that's about it.

Also, it might be better to plan this sort of thing to be in a shed or garage, like model railway builders often do. You can always move the shed to a new location if it comes to it.

[JeeBee]

Surely he has a claim on the flat

They were married, and the flat has been paid off mostly (if not entirely) up to this point during their marriage. It might be in her name only, but that has never meant anything when divorce is happening - especially if he was paying rent or contributing at any point.

He should just disassemble it and put it all into storage or a mate's garage. However I suspect that it's all screwed/nailed/glued together and disassembly == destruction.

[Jim Lewis]

There are lots of cheap shipping containers around. Why not buy a couple and reinstall the stuff in those. they'd make pretty good travelling displays for fun-fairs etc.

[TimeMaster T]

At least he followed his dream and actually did it. How many of us have said "that would be so cool if I could do that" about our flat, yard, car or motorbike, and never did anything because we didn't have the money, our own place, just didn't want to hear the silly comments or just didn't think our dreams were important enough to actually do something about.

He did it.

First rounds on me.

[jake]

@TimeMaster T

"At least he followed his dream and actually did it. How many of us have said "that would be so cool if I could do that""

And then reality rears it's ugly head ...

Me, I was in IT for around thirty years (and a SciFi fan). Over my last seven full-time years in IT, I conceived, and built my Wife's horse ranch. Now I'm pseudo-retired (if sun-up to often way past sun-down work on a horse ranch, 7 days per week, can be considered "retired" ...), but I'm a hell of a lot happier that J. Random Trekkie seems to be.

Again, think "perspective". It's kinda important, year to year (Are you really a "time master"? What does that mean, exactly?). Halloween costumes are all well and good, but they hardly pays the bills ... unless you are in the costume business.

[Putonghua73]

You are all Norm, and I claim my free point

Although the initial postings conformed to my expectations from reading this thread, I am amused, surprised and disturbed by the serious amount of interior design knowledge displayed by a predominantly male set of commentators.

Oatmeal?

Vases with twigs and stones?

Reminds me of that episode of Cheers where Norm displays a previously undisclosed talent for interior design, and even fakes being gay to fit the part. Despite possessing the taken to make a serious amount of money to whatever field he puts his mind, he's happy enough to drink beer, eat peanuts and be accepted by his small drinking circle - even if that means putting up with Cliff's sense of his own self-importance - at the bar where everyone knows his name.

What I really want to know is when 'burnt orange' stopped being fashionable to paint one's lounge?

[Putonghua73]

Goddamn predictive text

Pint!

[Unlimited]

Dismantle. Move. Reassemble. ??? Profit.

wtf did he build it out of that it cannot be moved? Surely it's just mdf, screws and glue right?

[Timbo]

Hasn't he been trying to sell the place already?

I seem to recall seeing a TV news item about this place - it's certainly been featured on a few news programs in recent years - and IIRC, he had put the place up for sale (with it's Star Trek theme intact) some time back.....

Seems the ex-wife has given up being patient and wants her share of the money back.

Seems a shame to just "bin" it - eBay would seem to be a sensible option http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/graphics/icons/comment/meh_32.png

[Timbo]

..and the designers website is still going...

Last updated: December 2011 - http://www.24thcid.com/Default.asp?xa=1

[Prag Fest]

"transported to the bankruptcy courts"

Killing line Lester :)

[heyrick]

The way the world is these days, how long 'til someone says...

"Voyager themed flat? Awesome. Now where's your licence for the use of our intellectual property. Oh, and there are pictures of this on the internet, so you'll need worldwide distribution rights too..."

[natmangee]

Been around for years.. Back in the news again.. From what i remember last time around, the flat has had major issues. No-one will *ever* buy it and its all a bit too well "fitted" to be removed in a modular way afaik..

Best i reckon he can hope for is remove it as intact as possible, sell flat, and try to offload the graphic panelsand bits to enthusiats somewhere.

All of the pieces really are incredibly faithful reproductions, but at a couple, to a handful, of hundreds of pounds each, he's not going to make his 100-odd grand back thats for sure!

[Anonymous Coward]

He violated the prime directive.

Unfortunately the prime directive in a relationship is 'don't piss off your partner.'

While I might not want to decorate my home the same way he has, I do admire what he's done.

[Coofer Cat]

Craftsman?

You've got to admire his craftsmanship, and since it took 10 years - his dedication too. It's a shame his business doing this sort of thing didn't work out, and it's a shame he did all this in a flat that's not his. It's also a shame he can't get a decent job so he can buy the flat off his Mrs.

All said and done, I can't imagine wanting to live in a place like that, but I admire the guy for doing something bold, imaginative and impressive. As someone above said, I hope he can sell it for parts rather than just dump[ it in a skip.

[thejackle]

Wife should be thankful....

..that it wasn't the programme "Changing Rooms" that he was obsessed with. She'd have no f***ing chance of selling the flat then.

[Anonymous Coward]

Seems a shame to dispose of it

Why not donate the whole setup to a bar or nightclub?

A few blinkenlights and it would look very impressive.

AC/DC