'I bought it without telling Victoria. She didn’t want another project... I sat her down, gave her a vodka and tonic and told her what I’d done': David Beckham tells Alan Titchmarsh about his Cotswolds home and garden

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a successful footballer in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a house in Oxted or Alderley Edge. Although David Beckham might once have resided in such predictable localities, his heart is now firmly planted in the Cotswolds. Granted, he also has homes in London and the US, where he is co-owner of Inter Miami CF, but it is the countryside near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire that clearly exerts the greatest pull.

‘I just love it. I’m never happier than when I’m here,’ he enthuses. That much is clear from the way he and Victoria have developed the 26 acres of land that once formed a part of the Great Tew estate.

Eight years ago, David began the task of transforming the two existing derelict Cotswold-stone barns — one thatched and one stone-tiled — into an elegant country house. He also added a third building, opting to join the trio to a longer wing to create what historians will recognise as a tactful trend during the reign of Elizabeth I: a house in the shape of the capital letter ‘E’.

I ask him why he chose the Cotswolds. ‘Because it’s one of the most beautiful parts of the countryside and I knew that, if I picked the right location and the children could get there in a day from London, they’d come.’

Why this particular spot? ‘It happened by accident. I wanted somewhere in the country, but I was frustrated after six months of looking. I was disappointed by a house I’d been to look at and was driving past these ruins — and a pile of bricks. Two barns and a mess. I asked what was going on: “We’re rebuilding,” they said. I told them to stop and, within a week, I’d bought it. I had a vision of what I wanted it to look like.’

I ask him if it was a joint decision. ‘I bought it without telling Victoria. She didn’t want another project. We’d just done up the London house. I sat her down, gave her a vodka and tonic and told her what I’d done. I took her and the children to the barns and said: “You’re not coming back until it’s done.” Fourteen months later, on December 17, I brought them back when the house was finished.’

How does Lady Beckham feel about it now? ‘She’s in love with it. She sleeps longer here. She reads, we go for long country walks with the children. I come down on Friday morning; Victoria brings the children in the afternoon and we stay until Sunday evening. We have friends to stay and they absolutely adore it.’

Since buying the property in 2016, every bit as much care and attention has been lavished on the gardens and surrounding land as on the dwelling itself. Despite being restored to the highest specification — as you’d expect from a couple with a meticulous eye for design and detail — the house has not been slavishly restored in a historic style.

The dark-grey Crittall windows and doors give it a contemporary feel, without detracting from the structure’s 16th-century origins.Glazed doors and windows give way onto two large and sensitively planted courtyards, offering a soothing view from bedrooms, kitchen and sitting rooms.

The house seems to be wrapped around by the gardens — in the eastern courtyard, framed by two of the wings, an inviting swimming pool is caressed by low plantings of lavender, catmint and sub-shrubs, pleasantly softening the harsh and clinical lines that so often cause outdoor pools to sit incongruously, as if dropped from outer space. It’s clear that the owners enjoy being enveloped by Nature here, well away from the public gaze, in contrast to their homes in the more cosmopolitan — and frenetic — locales of London and Miami.

When asked where this affinity with gardens and the countryside comes from, David attributes it to his maternal grandfather. ‘I was an East End boy. I didn’t know the countryside existed apart from Epping Forest. My grandfather Joe did the gardening, then I’d kick a football about and knock all the heads off the roses.

‘I always loved trees — especially oak trees. But when Victoria and I lived in Hertfordshire, with about 100 acres — some of which was woodland — I never really got into it. Then here, in lockdown, I went tree mad. When we were allowed to leave the house, nurseries were about the safest place. I’m still learning; I know what I like, but not all the names. Victoria loves cherry blossom, so I planted one outside her study window.’ The gallant gesture now delights the lady of the house every spring.

What is the overall feeling engendered by the Beckhams’ garden and the surrounding landscape? There is an all-pervading sense of order about the place — raked drives of Cotswold gravel neatly edged with stone sets — with plants spilling forwards to soften their edges. For every dome of clipped yew, there is a waving ribbon of longer grass interspersed with trees of varying ages. Large areas of grass — not lawns, as such, but close-mown swards, as well as meadows — provide breathing spaces between more elaborately planted areas. The overall effect is stylish — no surprises there — but also friendly and comfortable and, above all, welcoming.

When the Beckhams came here there was but one tree: a maple. Over the years, they have added hundreds more. Pines and maples predominate, together with hornbeam and oak, yew and beech. The dry summer past proved a challenge on the Cotswold brash, which is fiercely drained, but planting of trees, native hedges and windbreaks will continue through the winter to add height and structure to what was once a gently undulating, but relatively featureless and windswept landscape.

Marcus Barnett was involved in laying out the courtyard gardens immediately adjacent to the house. Yet, since then, David has been responsible for the design. He finds it therapeutic. ‘Every weekend, I have another idea — I really love organising. And tidying up,’ he confesses. ‘I can’t really admit it to most people, but my idea of heaven is what I did this weekend — sorting things out, making jam from the plums and spreading it on toast.’

Four years ago, during lockdown, the Beckhams added a lake to encourage waterfowl. Wrapped around by a ribbon of Hidcote lavender (something of a Beckham signature), it is traversed by an elevated and sinuous timber walkway that links the lake’s edge to a central island. A friend gave David seven ducks for his 50th birthday (seven is a dominant number in the household: it was the number on David’s shirt when he played for Manchester United and is his daughter Harper’s middle name.) Wild duck and Canada geese add to the complement.

‘He loves the country,’ confirms his operations manager, Shane McFadden. Shane is a former Irish Guardsman who, as is head gardener Carly Holmes, is clearly devoted to David and determined to keep the estate in good order whether ‘The Boss’ and his family are in residence or not.

Whereas a walk around reveals some expected trappings of a highly successful former international footballer — an open-fronted oak barn sheltering several highly polished Land Rovers, their seats covered in Scottish tweed (a Beckham preference) — there are other features that surprise, such as a dedicated bee garden, where four quartets of WBC hives sit among beds of pollen- and nectar-rich flowers. Their residents are still busy foraging as summer draws to a close and David gives me a pot of his home-produced ‘Golden Beez’ honey. At the bottom of the label, in small print, it says: ‘Made in Our Garden by Dad and Cruz.’ At home, it is my turn to spread it on toast. Delicious.

Around the bee garden and beyond, paddocks are surrounded by handsome cleft-oak railings. The kitchen garden, by contrast, is enclosed by a white picket fence of the sort that childhood dreams are made of. Within its confines are oak-encased no-dig beds cherished by Miss Holmes, in which espalier plum and pear trees act as a backdrop to muscular kale, potatoes and onions, salads and roots, together with feathery-topped carrots that are dug up for me to approve their size and quality — David’s carrots are the source of much amusement on Instagram. All the produce is grown for the family kitchen and, when they are in London, it is shipped to their townhouse.

David is a hands-on gardener within this white picket fence. The low Euonymus japonicus ‘Green Spire’ hedge (a good alternative to box) was only half planted when Miss Holmes left for the weekend. When she returned on Monday morning, ‘The Boss’ had finished the job for her.

Woven-willow plant supports hewn by craftsman Jay Davey support peas and beans and help to protect vulnerable plants from hares, as do chicken-wire cloches from mail-order company Crocus. A large graphite-grey Alitex greenhouse provides the backdrop. It is a greenhouse designed for entertaining, containing some understated staging, as well as a vast dining table capable of seating 20 down its centre. The diners are able to see the short journey their food has made from fork to fork.

Pass through an archway in the neighbouring hedge and you will come upon the ‘working greenhouse’, which is home to tomatoes and peppers, aubergines and cucumbers, potted pelargoniums and citrus. This is a more modest-sized construction of western-red cedar built by Woodpecker Joinery — its cedar-encased water butts disgorge their excess water into an underground reservoir from which it can be pumped in drier weather. Alongside it is Miss Holmes’s neatly ordered office-cum-potting shed.

Before taking up her post here more than a year ago, Miss Holmes worked at nearby Soho Farmhouse and, before that, at The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall. Growing food is her particular delight and, here, she has charge of a model kitchen garden run, as is the entire estate, on organic lines. An orchard is planned for the adjacent patch of land.

Next to the kitchen garden is the chicken run, home to a small flock of Cotswold Legbar hens that is presided over by a burly Brahma cockerel, who struts his stuff beneath The Penthouse, a veritable prince among chicken coops — almost an avian duplex. ‘He’s a friendly chap,’ notes David of his cockerel.

A walk around the grounds, along winding paths and wider driveways, makes it clear that the garden is well used for entertaining. Across the acreage, there are firepits and sitting areas, sculpted from the landscape, as well as a huge semi-permanent ‘tent’ that houses David’s Wild Kitchen, which was built by The Cashmere Caveman Company, replete with gleaming copper-topped heated tables and a shiny oven. ‘Cooking relaxes me more than most things,’ he reveals, freely admitting to a love of order and tidiness. It is a predilection that is reflected across what its owner is reluctant to call ‘an estate’. ‘It’s just “The Barns”,’ he clarifies. ‘A country house set in beautiful countryside. We feel so lucky to be here — to have the space.’

Beyond the lake is another sitting area, this time incorporating a wood-fired hot-tub alongside a small black dome — a sauna by Iglucraft — manufactured in Estonia.

It becomes clear that the Beckhams regard their Cotswold retreat as an important sanctuary in their busy lives and an escape from the demands that international commitments — in both sport and fashion — require of them. It is essentially a family home where they and their children can relax in what, thanks to the vision of this retired England football captain, has become a sheet anchor in their lives.

If anyone was in doubt about the Beckhams’ commitment to Nature and their affinity to this part of the Cotswolds, a visit to their domain quickly dispels any hint of cynicism. Here are two world-famous people, renowned as ambassadors in many glamorous spheres of public life, who have realised, in middle age, the restorative and beneficial qualities of gardening and thoughtful land management. David and Victoria have created at Great Tew a delightful and durable legacy.

This feature originally appeared in the October 22, 2025 issue of Country Life, guest edited by Sir David Beckham. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.