Cornwall lover Dawn sells house in ‘too cool’ Fowey
SHE was the vicar who tried to bring verve and modernity to the sleepy TV village of Dibley, but such a transformation doesn’t seem to suit Dawn French in real life.
She is moving out of the real idyll of Fowey in Cornwall because it has become too ‘cool and trendy’.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the comedienne has sold her treasured home, dramatically set on a windswept bluff, and has decamped to a more low-key area.
The 63-year-old has owned Point Neptune House, which boasts huge, arched windows and stunning sea views, for 15 years. The property is widely considered one of the most desirable houses in the town, but it is clearly visible to the growing hordes of tourists that visit.
A source last night said: ‘ Yes, Dawn is selling up, but she’s very much staying in Cornwall. She just wanted a change.
‘Dawn is low-profile and private. The fact that Fowey has recently become cool and trendy isn’t what she finds appealing per se. It can get very busy now during summer.
Dawn will always love Fowey and had 15 wonderful years living there. She will miss all the locals who made her feel so welcome.’
Fowey, a charming harbour town where writer Daphne du Maurier once lived, has been described as a ‘millionaires’ playground’ and is popular with London buyers. It voted last year to ban newly built houses being sold as second homes amid an influx of city- dwellers pricing locals out of the market.
The summer season sees the town overrun with tourists, particularly recently now that foreign travel is largely off the cards. Several trendy London restaurants have opened outlets on its narrow – and previously quiet – streets in recent years, with queues around the block. The source said that Ms French ‘doesn’t see herself in that celebrity, flashy tribe. She’s a low-key resident. It’s actually not like her to have a visible, ostentatious home in the centre of town.’ Ms French, who starred as Geraldine Granger in The Vicar of Dibley, moved into the Grade-II listed building in 2006 with her then-husband Lenny Henry and their daughter Billie. The couple divorced in 2010. In 2013, she married therapist Mark Bignell in the coastal resort of Mawgan Porth. The sale of Point Neptune House is believed to have been a multimillion- pound off- market sale through the luxury property agent Jonathan Cunliffe. Last night, he said: ‘We cannot say who Dawn sold Point Neptune to, only that she has bought again in Cornwall.’
‘She doesn’t see herself in that celeb, flashy tribe’