Ellen DeGeneres' $15 Million Cotswolds Nightmare: Star Fled Hollywood for Peace — But Found Floods, Feuds and Total Misery Instead
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi moved to the Cotswolds a year ago.
Dec. 7 2025, Published 5:40 p.m. ET
Ellen DeGeneres' Cotswolds countryside escape appears to have unraveled almost as quickly as it began.
The former talk show host had spent a year and poured millions into transforming what she was told was a "tired" and "basic" farmhouse into "a landmark country estate," RadarOnline.com can report.
Home Renovation
The couple spent just one Christmas in the Cotswolds before returning to the U.S. for the holidays..
Architects had estimated that renovating the historic Kitesbridge Farm would take 18 months, but DeGeneres, 67, and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, 52, pushed to accelerate the process.
They hired 70 builders and craftsmen to fast-track the project so they could settle into their new life abroad. Instead, within only days of moving into the $15 million property, the couple found themselves surrounded by polluted floodwater as biblical winter storms swept across the region.
The pair quickly abandoned the estate, retreating to a $30 million hilltop home more reminiscent of the sleek California residences they once enjoyed. Though the new property offered the elevation and modern comforts the couple wanted, it was not enough to keep them in the UK for long.
After spending just one Christmas in the Cotswolds, they returned to the U.S. for the festive season — and sources suggest they may delay or even reconsider moving back.
'Gloomier Outlook'
Days after moving in, the estate flooded with polluted water due to severe storms.
The famously dreary British weather appears to have played a role, contributing to what insiders say became a "gloomier outlook" on their countryside experiment.
While their wealth could buy architectural brilliance, it could not replicate the reliable sunshine they left behind in California.
According to new reporting, the couple's UK adventure was troubled from the start. "Like the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster," their experience featured disputes with aristocratic neighbors, friction with fellow celebrities, and an ongoing string of complications behind the scenes.
There were even rumored appearances from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — former Montecito neighbors — who allegedly offered guidance in the couple's search for an idyllic rural sanctuary.
'Hamptons of the U.K.'
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Ellen ended up spending millions to renovate her new home.
The Cotswolds, often hailed as "the Hamptons of the UK", has long attracted high-profile residents such as David and Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss, Simon Cowell, and members of the royal family.
Though DeGeneres acknowledged she "didn't know much about the Cotswolds" prior to moving, she was familiar with Soho Farmhouse, the exclusive countryside retreat favored by A-listers.
Seeking a new start after the end of Ellen's talk show and Portia's retirement from acting, the couple asked top estate agents to find a "typical Cotswolds stone rural property" with ample land and a budget of "anything up to $35million."
They ultimately purchased 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 that they would pay whatever it took, as it were, within reason to prevent that first sale from taking place. So we did a deal in excess of the guide price."
