Jeremy Clarkson’s House: Inside The Presenter’s Home
Back in 2016, Jeremy Clarkson demolished his five bedroom house as part of his TV show The Grand Tour. Always one for the dramatics, he did not go about it in a conventional way. He used explosives to quickly turn the house into a pile of dust and rubble. Almost four years later, what has he done with the place, and what future endeavours does he have in store?
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How Jeremy Clarkson destroyed his house…
Jeremy Clarkson is building a new house, with the hopes of having it as a fully-functioning farm. When he bought the property, he renamed it ‘Diddly Squat Farm’, the perfect Clarkson-esque name. Jeremy has always been known for his sarcastic sense of humour so the name definitely seems fitting.
Rather than hiring a firm to demolish his old five bed cottage, in classic Clarkson fashion, he decided to do something a little different.
Jeremy Clarkson’s old house was a £4.5 million cottage near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. He bought it in 2012, and always had plans to rebuild the property. He applied for planning permission to make changes to the house including a swimming pool and croquet lawn. But it took him almost four years until he followed through with his plans of renovating.
In an episode of The Grand Tour, Jeremy’s co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond completely demolish his house with the use of huge explosions, and diggers. Clarkson had lost a bet which meant his colleagues could personally destroy his home.
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No doubt they had fun pressing the trigger that destroyed his huge cottage. The trio are famous for their jokey relationship throughout their time working together on Top Gear and The Grand Tour. So this stunt would not have been a surprise to many fans.
The demolition features on the third episode of The Grand Tour‘s first series. Not ones to half-do anything, Clarkson, May, and Hammond set the show off to quite literally an explosive start. The Grand Tour now has four series on Amazon Prime, with their most recent released in December 2019. The latest series is a feature length special where the three presenters go to Cambodia, swapping their usual fast cars for some boats.
It’s not been without its controversies…
Apparently Clarkson only gave his neighbours one day’s notice before the explosive demolition occurred. His neighbours received a letter through their door, which said that demolitions would take place the following day, between 1pm and 4pm.
The Daily Mail said that his neighbours were not pleased with this inconsiderate approach, describing it as ‘typical Clarkson’ behaviour. Rather than demolishing the building in a conventional manner, he used large explosions, which also created a lot of dust. His 44 year old neighbour also said that all that was left after the explosion was ‘a huge pile of Costwold stone’.
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The Grand Tour presenter is well-known for his fair share of controversies. In 2015 he made the headlines for becoming verbally and physically abusive to one of Top Gear‘s producers. Clarkson was unhappy about the catering offered. He wanted steak but because the chef had gone home, all he could have was soup and a cold meat platter instead.
They took the producer to hospital after he was punched in the face. They treated him for a swollen lip, but he had no serious injuries. The fracas ended Clarkson’s career with Top Gear, a show he had worked on since 1988.
These controversies do seem to aid his career rather than tarnish it however. Many love the man for his no-nonsense attitude, and his need to say it how it is. Top Gear‘s viewings rapidly dropped after his suspension. Series 22, Clarkson’s last series presenting the show, ended in 2015 with an average of a whopping 6.49 million viewers.
After his departure, viewings plummeted to an average of 3.89 million in 2016. While the ratings have slowly improved since then, the highest average is still only 4.46 million. It is clear that Clarkson is the man many viewers want to see on their screens.
His plans for the house…
Jeremy Clarkson has planned to build a six-bedroom mansion that also works as a farm. Of course, it has to have space for his five cars, as well as his quad bikes.
Image Source/Instagram
He has also built a walled garden with an orangery, and his instagram features a photo from last summer of the gorgeous plant beds and rural buildings.
Before the demolition, Jeremy had plans to build an orchard, and tennis court, as well as a pool. But the plans expired before he carried the work out. After demolishing the old house, Clarkson’s more recent plans included a basement cinema and a party barn.
Clarkson will probably host his many celebrity friends in the party barn. Some guests may include the Beckhams, his co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May, and ex-Prime Minister David Cameron, who lives nearby.
Image Source/Instagram
The presenter is said to be worth a staggering £46 million so it is no surprise that he has huge plans for the property. He is going to use his many acres of land for farming purposes, but it is also clear that he is setting himself up perfectly for a strong work/life balance.
The approved plans described the aim of the build to be ‘a modest country house/gentrified farmhouse which gives the appearance of having grown over time”.
Image Source/Instagram
His hopes for the build have been no small task. Jeremy posted a photo onto his Instagram page in December 2019, which was of a building site covered in mud and cement with the caption “Our new house is nearly finished”. He demolished his old cottage in 2016, so the build has taken over three years to complete.
How can he afford it?…
Mr Clarkson is said to be worth a massive £46 million. A cinema room and party barn may come at a high cost, but it seems Clarkson’s pockets are definitely deep enough.
His first major television presenting role was for Top Gear in 1988 which aired until 2000. It was relaunched in 2002 in a newer format, which he presented until his dismissal in 2015. He is credited for making the show one of BBC Two’s most watched programmes.
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He earned £1 million per series of Top Gear, and was one of the BBC’s highest earners at the time. Punching one of the producers seems a funny way of repaying them.
With his move to Amazon Prime with The Grand Tour, he reportedly signed a £160 million deal. His life may be strife with controversies and drama, but his pay-packet definitely isn’t suffering for it.
His investment into creating his property into a working farm, is sure to create even more wealth for the star. ‘Diddly Squat Farm’ has already started to make produce, and anything with Clarkson’s name on it is certain to sell well – even just for the novelty factor!
Farm shop grand opening…
Jeremy has high hopes for his new house and has been learning a lot about farming and agriculture. His instagram page is full of farming photos, such as tractors, rural landscapes and animals. Clarkson’s most recent venture has been the construction and opening of a farm shop.
My farm shop opens tomorrow afternoon. Twitter friendly as it’s unheated and meat free. Do drop in if you’re in the Chipping Norton area.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) February 21, 2020
Image Source/Twitter
Its grand opening was in February, as Clarkson took to Twitter to invite members of the public and those near Chipping Norton to come and take a visit. In true Jeremy Clarkson style he does not shy away from the use of sarcasm, saying it is Twitter friendly because it is “unheated and meat free”.
‘The Squat Shop’ only sold a few products like eggs, potatoes, and horseradish. Jeremy was proud to say that he could beat Aldi for its prices, as he announced on many signs in the shop. As Jeremy continues his agricultural endeavours, he is sure to sell even more produce. It will almost certainly not continue to be ‘meat free’ in the future either.
Trouble on the day…
The opening was not a complete success however, as many people were turned away due to the muddy conditions. Thanks to recent terrible weather, including Storms Ciara and Dennis, ‘Diddly Squat Farm’ was not the most accessible.
Around 100 people turned up to the farm with hopes to see Clarkson’s new project, meaning cars had to battle against the weather conditions and muddy car park to gain access. One person took to Twitter to tell Clarkson himself that they had to be turned away. They were unable to access the shop because of their pushchair for their eight month year old. Clarkson replied saying “I know. Bloody nightmare. Sorry.”.
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Generally though, the opening was a success. Within a couple of hours, the shelves that were full of his produce were cleared, and many were pleased to be met with Clarkson’s general humour. He labelled his produce as ‘non-organic’, and described his eggs as ‘good exercise chicken eggs’. Health and safety signs were also humorous, with one sign warning customers “Do NOT catch fire” placed next to an open fire.
Clarkson’s New Show…
Jeremy Clarkson announced last year that his project to run a farm will be made into a television show. The eight part series will follow him over the course of one year, learning the ways of farming. It seems it will be a million miles away from Top Gear and The Grand Tour.
In the video announcement, Mr Clarkson says that people will be able to watch him use a thousand acre piece of land in the Cotswolds. He claims:
“This means that people from all over the world will be able to watch me use a thousand acres of the Cotswolds, to make thousands of tonnes of beer, and bread, and vegetable oil, and lamb chops, and jumpers. Course, to be a farmer, you have to be an agronomist, a businessman, a politician, an accountant, a vet, and a mechanic. And I’m none of those things. I don’t even know what agronomist means.”
The show will be aired on Amazon Prime, and will be an exciting new way to see Jeremy Clarkson, away from his usual fast cars. It will no doubt feature his usual no-nonsense attitude, and sarcastic comments to match.
He started filming the show last September. It has not been announced when this new series will air, but it is expected to be this year.
