David and Victoria Beckham have fallen for a £27million Grade II-listed country estate in the Cotswolds, it was claimed today.
The celebrity couple are believed to be set to buy the home in Gloucestershire, which boasts a ten-bedroom main house and 13 further buildings. The Beckhams, along with children Brooklyn, 16, Romeo, 13, Cruz, ten, and Harper, four, are said to have visited the estate last week.
And the Sunday Express reported that they are now set to acquire the house – the most expensive country home currently for sale in Britain. The estate has been described as the perfect choice for someone who wishes to entertain while looking for privacy.
The principal home is 24 times the size of the typical new build in England and it also boasts six bathrooms and several dining and drawing rooms. Its surrounding gardens were designed by the Edwin Lutyens, who is regarded as one of the country’s finest landscape architects.
On top of the manor house, there are two entrance lodges, 11 farmhouses and cottages and planning consent for four further homes. Running through the estate is the River Dikler, which offers wild brown trout fishing, and there is the potential for a pheasant or partridge shoot.
The land is currently registered as organic and a mixture of arable and livestock with a flock of 1,800 ewes. Its surrounding parks and farmland date back as far as 1253 and the estate also has a 45,000 square foot of modern farm buildings.
The Beckhams had sparked rumours that they were eyeing up a new ‘Beckingham Palace’ after being spotted in Gloucestershire recently. They are currently renting in London while their £31.5million home in the capital, which they purchased in 2014, is being renovated. To buy that house, the couple pooled cash from the sale of their 12-acre Hertfordshire estate, as well as from the sale of a number of their luxury cars. The Beckhams bought their Hertfordshire home, the original ‘Beckingham Palace’, in 1999 – just three months after their wedding.
