Divorce Forcing ‘Trekkies 2’ Fan To Destroy Star Trek Flat

If you saw the Star Trek documentary Trekkies 2, then you will remember the guy in the UK who redesigned his flat in 24th century Star Trek style. For the last few years that fan has been trying to sell the flat as is, but has not had any takers and now a divorce is forcing him to rip out the Trek stuff and sell the place as a standard flat. More details below.

 

Star Trek Flat Has To Go

In 1994 UK Star Trek fan Tony Alleyne began a project of redesigning his one-bedroom flat in Hinkley, Leicestershire, UK into a 24th century Star Trek dream home. Doing it all himself (at a cost of over $150,000), he saw the project as a showcase for his new company 24th Century Design. He was even featured in the 2004 documentary Trekkies 2. But now Alleyne is being forced to tear all his hard work down.


Tony Alleyne in his Star Trek flat

For the last few years Alleyne has been trying to sell the Trek flat as is. So far he hasn’t had any luck in finding a Trek buyer and now the UK’s Sun is reporting that a divorce is forcing Tony to uload the flat right away. That means that he now must gut the flat of all 24th century elements. Alleyne tells the Sun "To say I’m gutted is an understatement. It is my life’s work — and it looks like it’s going into a skip. I admit there were tears."


Star Trek TNG’s Denise Crosby with Alleyne – shooting "Trekkies 2"

It is sad to see all that hard work end up in the trash.

For more on the flat, check out this video tour from the BBC.

 

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Oy that is a shame. I wish him all the best!

That is a crying shame. I wonder if they could give him a walk-on part in the new film. It would make him feel better.

So where is the background casting for this new film anyway? There was such a big and open call for extras in the last film. I take it they are not doing any big academy scenes this time but must need some nonunion extras to push around on set.

I’m guessing his ex-wife isn’t a Trekkie?

The more specialized your tastes, the harder it is to sell it to the average buyer. It’s hard enough to sell a house as-is that has rooms painted non-standard colors. It’s too bad all that work has to go to waste, but hardly unexpected.

@4

Indeed. If you want your house to sell, anecdotal evidence from friends who are realtors say that even removing all the furniture increases the chance of the house selling– people want to envision themselves living there, and nonstandard colors, furnishings, etc. interfere with that.

Sucks, but there it is.

Aw man…..

She’s probably divorcing him because of the fact that their home looks like that. When a person (a rational person) is so obsessed with something, they have to take a step back and analyze their lifestyle. As much as I LOVE star trek, I would get depressed living in a place like that. I like a warm and inviting home, his place is a freaking rainy cloudy day everyday.

I was a huge video gamer, Nintendo aficionado, and it consumed me. I had every Nintendo game console from 1977, memorabilia, and shelves and shelves of games. I few years back I thought “what the hell am I doing.” I am just glad I realized this in my mid 20’s as opposed to much later in my life.

He spend $150,000! You know what I would have spent that on, travel. Nothing more rewarding than world travel, not vacations, not material possessions but travel…..and investments. I bet if they explored the world together and he wasn’t so obsessed with turning his home into a fantasy world things would have been different.

Just some food for thought.

Saddest trek story since star trek the experience got gutted…he spent 150 thousand…experience cost 100 million plus…sigh sniff pout…and so trek fandom worldwide will be poorer yet again…

It’s cool to make something like that as long as it’s not your home. Lesson learned the hard way.

Looking at it again…..i dont know how anyone could live there safely…all that flur. Lighting..like living in a tanning booth or like having 100 thousand x rays?

#7 – The divorce could be unrelated to his obsession, but your point is well taken. On the other hand, just consider that apparently the guy is a designer by trade, so there is something redeeming about his endeavor; it’s not just (or wasn’t supposed to be just) a man-cave on steroids!

Well, he’s a Voyager fan. It’s a beautiful pad. Sorry to see it go. Live long and prosper, Tony.

Turning a whole apartment into the interiors of a starship wasn’t the best idea. I would not do it.

But redesigning an entertainment room in the form of a starship interior would work better. At least this way, you’d keep the more traditional design for most of the house/apartment so that guests would feel comfortable, while the entertainment room would allow for something totally different, and more related to what you’re doing in that room.

He should get one of the fan-Trek productions to come over and film in his apartment, using the destruction as real special effects, so to speak.

That way, he’d have something for consolation.

JJ should buy it.

Who knows why he’s getting a divorce. It could be anything. He’s been able to enjoy the flat since 1994, so that’s a reasonable amount of time all things considered. If it was more of a showpiece that he never really lived in, there could have been all sorts of reasons someone might not want to live there even if they are a Trek fan simply because what was a minor issue to him would be a major one if you were living there full time.

I also agree that it is a setup that would be okay for a room or be nice to visit occasionally but it is far from warm and welcoming. I would expect a TNG-era home to be more like the crew quarters were rather than the darn ship. Their quarters always seemed futuristically welcoming to me.

Poor guy.
No matter how ‘nerdy’ or ‘geeky’ one’s dream is?
To have to lose it after finally achieving it is truly sad.

To quote Kirk in This Side of Paradise, “Another dream that failed, there’s nothing sadder…”

Hope he is able to do something similar again someday. :-)

“Honest, honey, when it’s done we will sell it and make a fortune. Just look at Star Trek: The Experience, it will last forever…..what do you mean, they closed it down?”

I can’t even type “It seemed like a good idea at the time” with a straight face….

Doesn’t anyone else see a resemblance to Captain Robau? If he got a tan just maybe…

These stories go around every few years. I remember at least twice before that he was going to sell / dismantle the apartment. It’s a shame if it’s true as it really is cool, but it also isn’t a feasible living space. And honestly, if a grown man has to rely on his ex to pay his rent (for 18 years!!!), maybe he would be better off selling it so he can get back on his feet.

Did he say that he sleeps on the floor? No wonder his wife is giving him the heave-ho! : D

Yo, dude, if I had the money, I would so do this in like a second home or something. The wife would never let me at our actual house, but, if I was rich, then hell yeah!

Bummer for this guy, though.

I bet Rick Sternbach’s house is even Trekkier. ;)

It’s a great flat for sure – damn cool! Too bad its woven into a serious case of “When Worlds Collide”. Fantasy vs. Reality.

Bummer. Wish him luck.

Having the Captain’s Chair as a toilet is about as far as I’d be willing to take it.

Did you not read the article, TrekMovie?

He DOES NOT own that apartment. HIS WIFE does. Oh, and SHE has been paying the mortgage on it since 1994!

So he spent $150,000 to pimp his crib, Janeway-style, in a home he doesn’t own! I’m thinking that money could have been used to get his own place THEN he could have commenced with the Okudagrams.

He should make a little exhibition out of it. So he could earn some money – with Pramounts “okay” – and maybe it would go to be a happy ending? Unfortunateley in divorcement people are very rarely “rational” or try to be compassionate and targeted to find a win-win-solution.

…or the whole inerior could go to a museum?

Star Trek flat sold on eBay for £425,000
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/49211-star-trek-flat-sold-on-ebay

The sale must have fell through or the buyers wife cut up his card.

@25 Not fancy a nice wee holiday home in the UK, Bob?

I think Le Corbusier said that houses are machines for living, and according to that criterion, this little flat is a failure. While I think it is certainly possible to design a science fiction-styled flat or house, the first job is to make it FUNCTIONAL. With the possible exception of the kitchen, this flat is totally non-functional, and as a designer he should know that.

The second job is to make it COMFORTABLE, and as several people have stated above, it is not a welcoming space. It is so cold and hard and awkward, that I would not even be able to work for a few hours in such a space.

What Mr. Alleyne has created is a stage set, and perhaps he would have more fun in life if he tried his hand at theater, even amateur theater, creating fantasy stage sets that service actors, rather than trying to house real people.

I’ll tell you what his mistake was …………… instead of recreating the INTERIOR of a space faring vessel, he should have recreated the ACTUAL vacuum of space and put his wife in it.

problem solved!

Addendum * The objective of this post is subjective ex-wife themed humour, not flaming or baiting!

What does divorcing his wife have to do with it? He built it by himself, using his own money, in his own flat. #confused
This shouldn’t be happening.

His best bet would be to sell the Okudagrams etc. in dribs and drabs. Granted he would still lose them, however, I for one would be in the market for one or two of those. At least then, his work will continue to be enjoyed, nobody breaks the bank and little ends up in a dumpster! Does this chap have an eBay page?

Typical woman behaviour.

The ex-wife is obviously a Star Wars fan. Either that, or she’s accepted JJ Abrams’ version as new canon and eliminated the Prime Universe altogether.

He supposedly started this project as a new pastime and distraction after an earlier divorce. Full circle…

Smell the misogynists in this thread ?
guys, have a wash and get out of moms basement then you might appeal to the opposite sex.

#34, read #27.

Total bummer. That place looks amazing, it really is too bad. Best of luck to him though.

If I had the money to do that, I’d Trek up only two spaces: a bridge and captain’s quarters.

If I had that kind of money, I would’ve bought some original set pieces from the previous auctions and be happy they were the real deal.

Isn’t anyone going to blame Rick Berman and Brannon Braga for this I mean come on!!!

Hey sports fans, marridge has a beginning and an end. I’ve only seen a handfull of marridges work in my 44 years on this M class planet. So be warned.

To quote Kirk from “The Trouble With Tribbles”: “Too much of anything, Lieutenant, even love, isn’t necessarily a good thing.” Well, too much “Trek” isn’t necessarily a good thing for resale. Imagine trying to sell one of the homes transformed on “Monster House” (seen in the U.S. and Australia — Wiki it if you’re unfamiliar), and you’ll see what I mean.

His flat would have sold, I think, if he had included Trek elements in a whimsical way, as accents to the whole living situation instead of turning the place into a starship.

I think that it’s too bad he has to dismantle all that work, but did he expect it to endure forever? Did he never consider that, at some point in his life, he’d have to move? As a designer, why did he not design some portability into his setup so he could take it with him, if need be?

C’est la vie! Live and learn.

Wonder if we could timeshare it

All fans put in 1/52nd of the cost he wants and we all buy 1 weeks accomidation

Then we can all share and enjoy his life’s work on a holiday to the UK

And Alleyne co-ordinate the lease

I assume he may only need to sell 50% to address the divorce

All the more reason to support what I think would be a suitable meme:

Divorce Ruins Almost Everything.

I mean, even if some good stuff comes out of it, the fact that you have to get divorced means that something went wrong. Even if it’s a friendly divorce.

Of course, if there are children involved, it’s all the more tragic, because children are to be cherished no matter how moronic/selfish/(insert other problem here) either or both their parents were. Children are innocent and should never be made to suffer merely because their parents “grew apart” or “fell out of love” or some other such thing.

But then again, there’s child support, and spousal support, and all that lovely stuff.

Ain’t love grand, ladies and gents?

The fact is, though, that horrible though divorce is, it may still be preferable to a terrible lifelong yoke that cannot be broken.

Sometimes the choice is between something that sucks, and something that sucks even worse.

And to lighten things up, here’s that old joke for everyone’s reading pleasure:

“They say marriage is a word. But the truth is, it’s a sentence.”

[Rimshot.]

I like Siv’s idea, or one could turn it into a B&B. It would be a way to preserve the work, recoup the investment, and, perhaps, generate income in the long run.

Win-win!

Cheer this guy up! Get him background role in the new Trek film!

Oh too bad…