Ellen DeGeneres’ escape to Britain turns into a year-long disaster
Ellen DeGeneres’ Cotswolds countryside escape seems to have unraveled almost as quickly as it began.
The former talk show host spent a year investing millions into transforming what she was told was a “tired” and “plain” farm into “a Grade II listed estate,” RadarOnline.com can report.
Architects had estimated that the renovation of the historic Kitesbridge Farm would take 18 months, but DeGeneres, 67, and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, 52, tried to speed up the process.
They hired seventy builders and craftsmen to speed up the project so they could settle into their new lives abroad. Instead, within days of moving into the $15 million property, the couple found themselves surrounded by polluted floodwaters as Biblical winter storms swept across the region.
The couple quickly left the estate, retreating to a $30 million hilltop home that was more reminiscent of the sleek California homes they once enjoyed. Although the new property offered the height and modern comfort the couple desired, it was not enough to keep them in Britain for long.
After spending just one Christmas in the Cotswolds, they returned to the US for the holidays – and sources suggest they may delay or even reconsider their return.
The famously gloomy British weather appears to have played a role, contributing to what insiders say is a ‘bleaker prospects” about their rural experiment.
While their wealth could buy architectural brilliance, it could not reproduce the reliable sunshine they left behind in California.
According to new reports, the couple’s British adventure was problematic from the start. “Like the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster,” their experience involved disputes with aristocratic neighbors, friction with fellow celebrities, and an ongoing series of complications behind the scenes.
There were even rumors that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle – former Montecito neighbors – would make an appearance, reportedly providing guidance in the couple’s search for an idyllic rural retreat.
Often hailed as “the Hamptons of Britain”, the Cotswolds have long attracted high-profile residents such as David and Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss, Simon Cowell and members of the royal family.
Although DeGeneres acknowledged she “didn’t know much about the Cotswolds” before moving, she was familiar with Soho Farmhouse, the exclusive countryside retreat favored by A-listers.
Looking for a fresh start after the end of Ellen’s talk show and Portia’s retirement from acting, the couple asked top real estate agents to find a “quintessential Cotswolds stone estate” with ample land and a budget of “anything up to $35 million.”
They eventually bought Kitesbridge Farm – a 43-acre estate outside Asthall – after dramatically outbidding another interested buyer. As one agent recalled, “Then the other party, who you know (Ellen), said they would pay, within reason, so to speak, whatever it took to prevent that first sale from happening. So we made a deal that was higher than the target price.”
