james may lego house tour

James May’s Actual LEGO House

I’ve noticed you lot quite enjoy a bit of LEGO. I have a feeling you might enjoy this then, because this time it involves one of your favourite presenters, James May .

In 2009, for his Toy Stories programme, LEGO donated 3.3 million plastic bricks so James and another 1000 volunteers could assemble a full sized LEGO house. This includes the bed, working sink and taps, and even a working toilet! I just wouldn’t want to be the guy who cleans it…

Unfortunately, even though it was finished to perfection and even after James spent a night in the thing, it was doomed from the get go. LEGO withdrew their promise to move the creation to their theme park in Windsor. It couldn’t stay where it was built – a vineyard in Surrey – so it was destroyed.

May said at the time, “I’m very unhappy about it. I feel as if I’m having my arm twisted into saying “knock it down”. “Legoland only told us on Thursday they were not going to take it.

“Knocking it down is just wrong on every level. It’s a really lovely thing – it would break the hearts of the 1,000 people who worked like dogs to build it.”

So, after a long and tiresome build, the house was torn apart and the bricks given to charity. An unfortunate end for such a magnificent structure, but at least the pieces went to good homes.

And here’s a video. Dam I love James’ humour! Or, if it’s blocked in your country (blame the BBC), there’s another even further down.

Alex Harrington

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World’s first Lego house

keyword: Lego House

A life-size Lego house made entirely from lego bricks!

James May’s colorful Lego House, complete with a fully plumbed Lego loo, bath, and giant bed is finally taking shape.

Duncan Titmarsh of Bright Bricks, as the UK’s only Certified LEGO Professional, was involved in its construction — along with a whole army of willing volunteers carefully following the design plans.

Toy Storeys: James May and 1,000 helpers built the 20ft-tall Lego house on a wine estate in Surrey.

The end result was a truly amazing and newsworthy way of using LEGO bricks to create something specia l.

Arch2O worlds first lego house 23

T he Lego house, which started being built on the Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, Surrey on August 1, is completed and only took one week.

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 criticized May for building the house without their help.

photography :Fink Angel

The life-size lego house uses over three million bricks and features a staircase, toilet and shower. may said once it was completed, he intended to live in temporary construction for a few days.

May has set what he thinks should be a new world record: becoming the first man to live in a fully functioning house made of Lego. But the plastic brick house, and its tragic end, has affected him rather more profoundly.

With lurid Lego furniture, a working toilet, a hot shower, and a bed made from Lego bricks, the house was assembled by volunteers. “People were really enjoying it simply because these massive piles of colored Lego were theirs to push together,” says May. “It is a faintly spiritual activity that everybody connects with.”

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.

May had said Legoland reneged on a deal to take it to their theme park in Windsor, Berkshire.

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 move to Legoland in Windsor fell through when staff realized it would have cost £50,000 pounds to dismantle it and reassemble it.

The tale of May’s Lego House does not end so well. It was obstructing the grape harvest at Denbies so faced demolition. May wanted to buy it but does not have a garden so desperately sought an owner via Facebook. Legoland rejected it because it cost too much to dismantle, transport, and reassemble. When no last-minute buyer was found, the house was destroyed.

After no one came forward to take the toy house off his hands a demolition team was called in to knock the colorful bricks off its timber frame with mallets.

Arch2O worlds first lego house 8

“There are all sorts of things embodied in the Lego brick – geometry and mathematics and truth and proportion and shape and color,” says May.

Martin Williams, marketing director of Legoland Windsor, had said: ‘We’re disappointed we were not consulted as our model-makers could have advised on building a movable structure.

The home was unwanted by Legoland ‘We considered all the options but due to cost, timings, logistics, and planning permission, we have decided it would not be viable to move the structure to the park.’

photography : Steve Parsons/PA

photography : Alec Kingham

After Legoland didn’t want it, May had hoped an art gallery, a children’s home or a wealthy private collector might have come forward for the house.

“It broke my heart but the people I felt for were the teams of volunteers who worked really hard building it,” says May.

Tags: alec kingham arch2o.com Fink Angel House James May Lego Architecture Lego blocks Lego House Steve Parsons/PA

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LEGO ® Inside Tour

The ultimate 3-day lego ® fan experience.

LEGO ® House, 'Home of the Brick' takes you on three unforgettable days that let you experience the LEGO Group from the inside and give you access to several places that are normally inaccessible. See LEGO bricks of all shapes and colours being produced on an exclusive guided tour through the Billund factory and visit the home of Ole Kirk Kristiansen, the LEGO founder, where it all started. Enjoy a build session with LEGO designers and immerse yourself in our internal unique museum on a guided tour. Get a special shopping experience and when it’s time to say goodbye, we will treat you with a unique and exclusive LEGO set.

Duration: 3 full days

The LEGO Inside Tour will take place on eight dates in 2024: 17-19 April / 22-24 May / 29-31 May / 19-21 June / 11-13 September / 2-4 October / 9-11 October / 30 October - 1 November

Sign-up:  The sign-up for the LEGO Inside Tour 2024 is closed. The sign-up period was from October 16 at 10.00 am CET until 19 October at 10.00 am CET, 2023. 

Follow this page for more information and registration for the LEGO Inside Tour 2025.

What can you expect?

Three days you will never forget.

The story of the LEGO brick began in Billund, so of course this is where LEGO House welcomes you on the LEGO adventure of a lifetime. Starting from the fantastic building that we call 'Home of the Brick', the LEGO Inside Tour gives you the ultimate, immersive tour of LEGO culture and history. Three action-packed days filled with LEGO magic and play from sunup to sundown. An unforgettable, guided fan experience through our headquarter, history, production, design process and of course LEGO House, will allow you to literally step into the ultimate LEGO experience.

• No LEGO Inside Tour would be complete without a visit to our founder’s home. Take in the atmosphere of Ole Kirk Kristiansen’s house, in the rooms where toy history was made more than 90 years ago. You even get to experience the exceptional collection of LEGO sets and models dating all the way back to the early days of the company in our secret museum.
• See LEGO bricks of all shapes and colours being produced as we show you around on a guided tour of our factory.
• Get loads of inspiration and learn new techniques as you enjoy a unique building experience together with our LEGO designers, while they introduce you to their work and let you in on how play is an integrated part of working at the LEGO Group.
• All of this will certainly spark your own desire to be creative, which is why the LEGO Inside Tour naturally includes a unique shopping experience.
• Wrap it all up with an exclusive Playful Tour in the LEGO House with plenty of time for play and immersion in the many possibilities of the house.
• As something completely unique, we have prepared a special gift for each guest: a unique and exclusive LEGO set produced in a very little amount. 

Terms and conditions

• The price per person for taking part in LEGO Inside Tour is 22,000 DKK​.
• The tour includes three overnight stays from Tuesday through Friday at Hotel LEGOLAND ® including breakfast on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. All meals, beverages, and snacks are included while visiting us.
• The LEGO Inside Tour also includes a full-year free pass to LEGO House and access to LEGOLAND Billund during the tour.
• All communication on the LEGO Inside Tour will be in English as the tour has participants from all over the world.
• You must be at least 12 years old to participate. Guests between 12 and 17 years old must be accompanied by an adult participant.
• We reserve the right to distribute slots for the LEGO Inside Tour but will consider your preferences for dates.
• Travel costs to and from Billund and additional overnight stays are not included.
• Participants are responsible for travel arrangements that are not part of the LEGO Inside Tour – please find more information below.

How to sign up

You register for the LEGO Inside Tour here on this page. Once registration is open, a link will be available at the top of the page that will take you to an online registration form. Sign up must take place within a limited period as defined on the form. We will only consider sign up forms from an adult (18 years old or more) that are complete with all relevant information in English. Signing up for LEGO Inside Tour does not automatically register you for a tour, as the demand is high, and therefore unfortunately we will not be able to accommodate all registrations.

If you would like to take part in the tour together with family members or others, you must sign up together. You can include up to five people on the sign-up form. If you are signing up on behalf of someone else, complete the form with the information of the person who wants to sign-up. You may replace their email address and telephone number with your own if you want the communication to go through you.

Transportation

Participants are responsible for arranging travel to and from Hotel LEGOLAND, Billund. Billund has an international airport ( www.billundlufthavn.dk ) and Hotel LEGOLAND is only a few minutes away by car. There is easy access to taxis from the airport. You can also take public transport from Copenhagen and create a travel plan via the Danish Railway: www.dsb.dk .

Explore other areas

LEGO Fan Tour

Would you like to spend a day behind the scenes in one of the most exciting LEGO Group locations? Join us on an exclusive one-day tour.

LEGO House Brick Tour

Get the ultimate LEGO House experience in a small group with your own tour guide.

Upcoming events

See upcoming activities and events in LEGO House, and find just the event that suits you best.

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The Two-Way

James may's lego house is gone — and so is his lego cat.

Mark Memmott

Before the walls came down. Steve Parsons/AP hide caption

Before the walls came down.

So much for that plastic fantastic home.

The house built with Legos we told you about three weeks ago is no more.

The home in the Surrey Hills of southeast England, which James May of the BBC's popular Top Gear program briefly lived in, has been taken apart . Apparently, the landlord (a winery) needed the property and no one could figure out a cost-effective way to move the structure to a Legoland park in Windsor.

The home was built, by more than 1,000 volunteers, in part for a new BBC2 show May will be hosting -- James May's Toy Stories . The Daily Mail says the pieces are now going to be donated to charities.

As this post at Top Gear's Telly Stuff blog says , however, the story isn't quite over. Someone took a Lego version of May's cat Fusker from the home and he wants it back. According to the blog:

If you know where he is and can help get him returned to the Top Gear office, there will be no questions asked. We might even view it as slightly heroic. But only slightly.

The address is:

James May, I've Found Your Cat

Energy Centre

201 Wood Lane,

London W12 7TN

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James May and his full-size Lego house nobody wants

By James Tapper Updated: 04:08 EDT, 21 September 2009

View comments

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 to harvest its grapes.

If no one collects it by 8am on Tuesday, it will be hacked to bits with chainsaws.

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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. It’s a 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. 

But any 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 attraction in Britain.

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 health-and-safety issues.

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 cost, 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.

His Paradise 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 home

• If you can take the house, email [email protected]

Share or comment on this article: James May and his full-size Lego house nobody wants

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Grand Tour’s James May finally finishes £3m London home after five-year renovation

• Mary Gallagher
• Published : 10:02, 16 Mar 2021
• Updated : 12:56, 16 Mar 2021

GRAND Tour's James May has finally finished work on his £3million London home after a five-year renovation project.

The TV star, 58, knocked down his old house in West London to build the mega mansion that will store his fleet of supercars.

As well as his own home, James is said to have combined a neighbouring property to build the larger pad.

Construction is almost finished on the grand design, with photos revealing the new structure and garage that will store his sports cars and 40 motorbikes.

His vast collection of motorbikes, a Porsche 911, limited edition Ferrari 458 Speciale, Fiat Panda and a Rolls-Royce will be given pride of place in the property.

The presenter is said to have moved out of while the work is ongoing – but he could be allowed back in by the end of lockdown.

It is claimed he demolished the home bought in 2000 and a neighbouring house he purchased five years ago for £310,000 to combine them.

Neighbours praised how the  TV star  has gone about the planning and build-up to the building work back in 2019.

One told MailOnline : "I couldn't wish for a better neighbour than  James . He is a delight and has involved us all at every step of the way.

And his next-door-neighbour Cathy Lewis added: "James has been really good and given us lots of information.

"This will be really good for our street, will be a big improvement on what was there before and the designs are sympathetic to the area.

"We know it will take a long time with a lot of disruption, but so far, the builders have been great. The new house will look fabulous."

The planning permission was given to May in 2016, but he has made adjustments since then as he took in residents' views on the project.

It is said he has gone to great length to make sure the new house will fit in with the area, in which there are some houses from the 1840s.

The plans were approved as a change of use of one property from commercial use to residential, demolition of the properties to rebuild into one two-story building with a garage on the ground floor.

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One of the builders said: "This is a massive job. It will take more than a year to finish, but we are making good progress. We are trying hard to be nice to the neighbours and James is a delight to work for."

May will move into the finished mega-home with his partner Sarah Frater - who he has been with since 2000.

Sarah is an art critic and is good friends with May's co-host Richard Hammond's wife Mindy.

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