How Victoria and David Beckham turned the Cotswolds into a 'hugely fashionable' Hollywood hotspot

With its picturesque rolling hills, honey-hued chocolate-box cottages and cosy pubs on quaint country lanes, the Cotswolds was England’s idyllic quiet corner – the ultimate unspoiled weekend retreat.

But now, with the arrival of A-list names such as David and Victoria Beckham and Princess Beatrice to join residents Kate Moss, Zara Tindall and Simon Cowell in this beautiful area of the West of England, the formerly under-the-celebrity-radar location is being transformed into the countryside playground of the elite – and the UK’s stealth wealth HQ.

From hedge funds to hedgerows, some of the country’s most famous residents are decamping to Cotswolds villages with increasingly sought-after postcodes. The crème de la crème of the jet set has turned the likes of Chipping Norton and Burford into the most exclusive rural region in the UK.

And now, with Hollywood star Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi moving to the area, this billionaire’s playground has gone global.

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Unspoilt England

Nicholas Rudge, residential sales director at Savills estate agents in Banbury, tells HELLO! that the stunning enclave is awash with billionaire families, drawn by the area’s beauty as well as the locals’ penchant for discretion.

"The Cotswolds has become hugely fashionable because money has poured out of London," he says. "The region is safe, it’s civilised, it’s protected; it can’t be overdeveloped, as it’s an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

"If you come from a Georgian or Victorian house in London but you grew up in the country, there’s this romantic image of pubs with fires and long walks with dogs, and that’s exactly what the Cotswolds offers.

"You can bump into Kate Moss down in Thyme; you can see all sorts of people. What’s rather nice is that they just get on with their lives and I think a lot of people respect that."

It’s perhaps no wonder that the area has attracted the type of people who appreciate the finer things in life.

Take, for example, the lives that David and Victoria lead during regular retreats to their £12m estate in Great Tew, near Chipping Norton, where they stay with their children Brooklyn, 25, Romeo, 22, Cruz, 19, and 13-year-old Harper.

The property has everything from its own lake to a football pitch and a swimming pool, as well as a sauna, a plunge pool, a gym and a £50,000 barbecue tent in the grounds for entertaining.

Traditional rural pursuits are represented by a cottage garden, a vegetable patch and a brood of chickens that live in their own coop, while David’s beloved beehives have featured regularly on the family’s social media accounts.

Last week, the former footballer told the Queen how much he loved the Cotswolds while attending a dinner at nearby Highgrove House.

"It’s beautiful there, so beautiful," he said. "We love it. We are very happy there. We’ve got chickens…" Her Majesty replied: "I’ve got chickens too," before David added that his wife of 25 years wasn’t a keen gardener but that he "loved it"

And fashion designer Victoria is also a big fan. "It’s so nice; we try to go there at the weekends as much as we can," she has said.

When not spending time in Miami, where the football team he co-owns is based, David can occasionally be spotted browsing local shops.

"I’ve seen him shopping at Daylesford’s exclusive farm shop near Kingham before," one resident tells HELLO!.

"He was dressed in his country gent attire – waxed jacket and flat cap – as he browsed the cheese section. Given that nobody was making a fuss of one of the biggest stars in the world, it’s no wonder he frequents the spot."

We can reveal that the Beckhams are said to enjoy sampling the tasty offerings at delicatessen Quince and Clover in Great Tew and have been employing the services of private chef The Cotswold Guy, who also has a shop in Gagingwell, near Chipping Norton.

"I’m the cook for David Beckham in the Cotswolds and whenever he needs stuff in London," the chef tells us exclusively. "Simon Cowell has a house nearby – he loves a roast dinner from me too. I’m honoured; I put a lot of love into what I do.

"The Cotswolds is a bit of a weekend retreat, so when the families come here, I often do the dinners at the house." And the chef says he often cooks alongside David when he is working for the family. "Sometimes in the barbecue tent, there’s a bit of mixing and cooking at the same time."

Outside their estate, The Boxing Hare and The Falkland Arms pubs are favourites of the family, while David often frequents Soho Farmhouse members’ club in Great Tew with his best friend and business manager Dave Gardner.

They were most recently spotted seeing off the January blues with a night out at Chipping Norton’s medieval pub The Chequers, where they bumped into Clarkson’s Farm star Gerald Cooper.

Royal residents

Besides the many celebrity faces, the area is also home to Princess Beatrice, who lives near Blenheim Palace with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, their three-year-old daughter Sienna and newborn baby Athena, as well as Edoardo’s eight-year-old son Wolfie.

The couple own a £3.5m six-bedroom farmhouse that has a luxury guesthouse in the grounds and is protected by 6ft security gates and fences.

"Beatrice no longer has royal protection, so it’s important for her to feel safe, particularly for her children," says a source close to the royal, whose close friend, nutritionist Gabriela Peacock, also lives in the area.

"Country living means long walks in woods and cosy lunches in pubs with roaring fires, while the couple are also regulars at Soho Farmhouse."

With all this on offer, it’s easy to see why Ellen and Portia have chosen the area as their new home after emigrating from Los Angeles.

Former talk show host Ellen, 67, and Ally McBeal star Portia, 52, reportedly fell in love with a converted farmhouse on a vast 43-acre estate in a small hamlet in Oxfordshire. They bought the property for £15m and moved in last November.

Their luxurious six-bedroom, four-bathroom property was described by Savills as a "quintessential English manor farmstead in a magical setting".

The house boasts an indoor pool, a gym, games rooms, a granary with a five-bay garage and a separate one-bedroom cottage, while barns connect to the main building via glazed passageways.

Outside, the couple’s sprawling grounds feature gardens, orchards and a wildflower meadow – plus a handy helicopter pad.

Soon after moving in, Ellen shared photos of the picturesque surroundings on Instagram, with one clip showing the star watching a swan in the estate’s own "river meadow". She wrote: "We got visited by a holiday swan-a-swimming."

The grounds and facilities may be exceptional, but the interiors are also fabulous, featuring limed walls, oak floors and marble basins.

"The place was done out beautifully by the previous owners, with chimney pieces sourced from Belgium and doors found in France – and even Michael Caine’s old loo, bought at auction, which they call the ‘mahogany thunderbox’," one source tells HELLO!.

"The house was a beautiful blank canvas to which they were able to add their own mark."

To read the full exclusive interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.