The TV presenter Sarah Beeny and her family couldn’t be more excited about spending their first Christmas in residence at their rather grand new country pile. Three years after moving from London to Somerset, their ‘mini Downton Abbey’ is finally nearing completion after a marathon build full of mud, sweat and tears.
At last they can say goodbye to the shabby kitchen in the 1970s property on their land that they’ve called home since buying a 220-acre former dairy farm near Bruton for just over £3 million in 2018.
And hello to the gleaming navy-coloured solar-powered Everhot range cooker in their stunning new bespoke kitchen with white marbled countertops, overlooking a lake and green rolling fields stretching as far as the eye can see.
‘Last year this was a building site, but we were determined to have our Christmas dinner in this house, imagining what it could be like,’ says Sarah, 49, giving me the first official tour of their baroque-inspired mini stately home.
‘There was no running water or heating here, so we had to cook everything at the 70s farmhouse [a five-minute walk to the new house], put it all in the car boot, drive it up here. We sat at a trestle table eating our turkey wearing hats to keep warm. It felt like camping out.’
Sarah with her husband Graham Swift, 48, who designed the house, and their four boisterous sons Billy, 17, Charlie, 15, Rafferty, 13, and Laurie, 12
This year Christmas dinner will be very different – served to 15 guests under a sparkling chandelier in the magnificent, luscious green and gold panelled dining room at a table majestic enough to seat the Royal Family.
Those around the table will include Sarah’s artist husband Graham Swift, 48, who designed the house, and their four boisterous sons Billy, 17, Charlie, 15, Rafferty, 13, and Laurie, 12.
All this will be familiar to fans of the Channel 4 series Sarah Beeny’s New Life In The Country, which has followed the progress of the family’s grand project as well as its tribulations, complicated as it was by pandemic delays, material shortages and soaring costs.
Their vision has not always made them popular with a few viewers — or some locals, although Sarah insists the welcome they’ve received has been ‘amazing’.
The timing of the series – the first season aired a year ago — was branded by one viewer as ‘tone deaf’, when so many struggled through lockdown trapped in cramped living quarters. Their home was derided by another as a ‘middle-class monster’, while others have raised eyebrows over their successful planning application.
Objections from some locals ranged from fears that access to a new driveway would compromise safety at a ‘notorious’ stretch of road to complaints about ‘construction of a large dwelling with no historical context, on a greenfield site in open countryside’.
But after three years, Sarah has emerged triumphant, if somewhat battle scarred.
Sarah Beeny, TV presenter and her family are thrilled to spend their first Christmas at their new country home. Their’mini Downton Abbey,’ three years after they moved from London to Somerset is nearing its completion. It took a long marathon of sweat, mud and tears.
“It is not everybody’s cup, but it’s our favorite,” she tells me, as we enter the hall. There’s a fireplace with stone floors and a large hallway where Graham has attached twinkling lights for ten foot Christmas trees.
The seven-bedroom, three storey-high house looks like an enchanting mirage. It is located at the end on a long and winding road that runs through craters.
Sarah says that while we may not have set out to construct a tiny Downton Abbey, other people believe so. Graham is an artist. His passion is historic architecture. Through my television and property renovation work, I have been to thousands of houses. You pick up ideas as you go.
“This house is the result of everything we have learned over the years. But it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks or says because no one has to live there.” While it’s still an ongoing project, I can’t imagine changing anything.
Although the house looks period-set, the modern structure is eco-friendly behind the heritage green windows and limestone facade.
This flat pack is basically made of concrete and powered by solar power. With their own boreholes and sewage treatment facilities, they hope to have their house off the grid in the summer. They will enjoy a house that has no electricity or fuel bills, as well as a zero-carbon footprint on the earth.
The couple is proud of this, as well as their plans for long-term regeneration of the vast farm. They have already planted over 22,000 trees and are planning to create landscaped gardens.
Sarah states, “But, it’s been an uphill, muddy battle.”
Graham said, “Sometimes my brain was telling me how blessed we are. While my heart was screaming, ‘What have I done?
Sarah and her family visit a reindeer ranch
Their original £500,000 build budget has been truly busted and is likely to end up closer to £1 million. ‘Our lives would have been much easier not doing this, but you don’t get often get an opportunity to build a house in the country and it would have cost £2.5 million if we hadn’t done all the project managing ourselves,’ Graham says.
Sarah adds that there were many moments where I wanted to get in the car and go. There is one thing you can do when you are in the middle of mud: keep going forwards, unless your heart desires to sink.
It’s a beautiful life that seems idyllic, however, it’s hard to live it every day. I was terribly missing London from the moment that we moved there.
“The boys were nervous about making new friends and had to settle them into the new school for their first year. Then, it became a bit strange when Covid came along.
Like everyone else, they struggled with home schooling during lockdown — all four boys are dyslexic — and a sense of isolation in a remote 1970s farmhouse where they had no history.
Sarah also faced additional challenges when the menopause kicked in.
“While it was a great feeling to be here, I wondered, “Why do I feel so sad about everything?”She says, “
“I would tell myself that we are fine. We have food, and our kids are healthy. I ought to be happy. But I am not. I would then think: “Oh my god, I am the worst person on the planet because I don’t feel happy.” These thoughts continued to swirl in my mind.
This year Christmas dinner will be very different – served to 15 guests under a sparkling chandelier in the magnificent, luscious green and gold panelled dining room at a table majestic enough to seat the Royal Family
A blood test eventually revealed that she was consuming untraceable amounts of progesterone and testosterone, as well as Vitamin D.
It’s improving now that HRT is available, but the effects are still there. The menopause had a profound impact on my mental and emotional health.
Sarah was first seen on television 20 years ago when she created Property Ladder. Her faith has been tested by hormonal changes, which at times have sapped her courage.
In 2001 the couple spent £435,000 buying the semi-derelict 96-room Rise Hall in the East Riding of Yorkshire, with TV cameras capturing their £500,000 renovation to restore the Grade II-listed building to its former glory.
While they hoped to relocate there, Sarah’s TV career kept the family in London so they turned it into a spectacular wedding venue, which they sold to an events firm for £1.4 million in 2019.
They ploughed everything into their new venture, along with the proceeds of the sale of their extended seven-bedroom London home — which went on the market two years ago with an asking price of £3.5 milion.
While it was a wrench leaving the capital, Sarah — who grew up in the Hampshire countryside — felt the time was right to return to their country roots.
Second series underway. It’s very Swallows-and Amazons. The family built a James Bond-themed alpine treehouse to host a Christmas Special party. They also cooked turkey al fresco on an open fire.
Along with the four children, Sarah’s brother Diccon is also featured in the program.
A family has built an alpine treehouse that is James Bond themed and lit with fairy lights.
Sarah, then ten years old, lost her mother at the age of 39. Her father was an architect and she is very close to him. ‘I’m not going to say people don’t irritate each other — they do — but the benefits you get out of a close, extended family far outweigh the minor irritations,’ she says.
After 30 years, her marriage seems to be strong. “I don’t think Graham and I are going to get along all the time. It would be an utter lie. She adds that we all have ups and downs.
“But Graham told me once that he was not ready to divorce Sarah after we had been really struggling for some time. I am not ready to only see my kids every other weekend. And neither is you.
He continued: “Therefore we’re staying married, and we can choose to either be unhappy or to be happy.” “Shall we be content?” I asked. I said that we should just be happy. He replied, “That’s great!” And so we are. One of the worst criticisms received by them on social media was that they had acted selfishly in dumping their sons in the sticks and taking their boys with them to London.
Sarah claims that it was their concern about the education of their sons that drove them to make this move.
Somerset’s premier public school is the home of a pioneering dyslexic school. It was one of the very first schools in the nation to identify the condition and adopt a visionary educational approach. All of their musically gifted boys now thrive. They weren’t the most compatible with their non-arts-focused, academically driven London private schools.
She said, “I wouldn’t have changed them unless it was right to them, and they’re really content here, with new friends,” I joked once that I would purchase them all a Steinway Piano if they had passed their Grade 8. I worry that I will have to cancel the deal.
Although the farm had been sold without any planning permission, Sarah and Graham were required to apply again because they desired to construct on a more favorable site, protected by trees.
Sarah says that a few people said “You got planning permission only because you are on television”, but Sarah believes the local authorities were very strict. She hopes to open a school for film and tv production on this site.
“Being on television can work in your favor, as councils won’t allow anyone to say they gave permission because you’re different.
“When we restored Rise Hall, we were told by the council that if you place your head over the parapet, it is possible for the building to be shot.
“Here I am impressed by how open and eager they are for new ideas.
Although traditional rural communities may not be known for their warm welcoming of DFLs (Down From Londoners), Sarah states that despite some planning issues, Sarah said: “People were so kind to us when it was our turn to move here. It was incredible. We have never been laughed at by anyone.
In fact, she filled her fridge with salmon smoked for an Omicron-inspired housewarming party.
“It took some time to make new friends. However, I now have a few good friends. She adds that their Somerset paradise is worth nothing because they don’t intend on ever selling. “The kids would not forgive us if it was sold, and I as a parent, I would do whatever to make them happy.
Sarah Beeny’s New Life In The Country on Channel 4 and All 4