The £6m Beckingham Palace bombsite
THEIR grand homes in the countryside tend to become known as Beckingham Palace.
However David and Victoria Beckham’s new pile is still anything but palatial, eight months after they paid more than £6million for it.
Work on the triple barn conversion in the Cotswolds has ground to a halt following a series of planning wrangles.
Aerial photographs reveal that several diggers have been abandoned and the site is a mudbath.
The Grade II-listed property – bought from landowner Nicholas Johnston, an Old Etonian friend of David Cameron – is in acres of rolling countryside near Chipping Norton. It a few minutes’ drive from the A44, used by celebrities who flock to nearby Soho Farmhouse. The exclusive private members’ club is a favourite with stars such as Kate Moss and Rita Ora.
Prince Harry’s girlfriend Meghan Markle is also a fan and has uploaded pictures of herself there on Instagram. Beckham, 42, and his wife, 43, sold their Hertfordshire country mansion, dubbed Beckingham Palace, in 2014 and had hoped their new nine-bedroom retreat would be ready for them and their four children to move into this summer after an estimated £1.8mil-
‘Butting heads with the council’
lion upgrade. Work on renovating the three barns and the extensions that link them in an E shape began in February.
The couple submitted a series of planning applications to West Oxfordshire District Council.
They were granted permission for a 60ft croquet lawn, an orchard with apple, pear and plum trees and two vegetable patches. But proposals for an outdoor seating area to entertain friends were rejected and they have instead submitted plans for a 10ft-wide pergola, which can be removed if necessary.
They also sought to install a huge swimming pool but have had to settle for natural swimming pond, sited within one of the courtyards so it cannot be seen from the road. Last month they applied for permission to change the roofs on outbuildings from tiles to thatch.
A source told the Daily Star Sunday: ‘They seem to keep butting heads with the council over what they can and can’t do. Until the council gives final approval nothing can be done.’
The Beckhams, who have a £31million home in West London which they have no plans to sell, have enlisting the help of leading architect Michael Ergatoudis, who works for Soho House, to remodel the new Beckingham Palace. They have also employed designers to create an English country garden surrounding the house.