Beckingham Palace up for sale!!

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David and Victoria Beckham to settle in US permanently as they put Beckingham Palace up for sale

 

 

By Liz Thomas

Last updated at 12:30 AM on 6th September 2010

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Selling up: Victoria and David Beckham have barely stayed at Beckingham Palace since relocating to California in 2007

 

David and Victoria Beckham are putting their seven bedroom country mansion on sale and are set to make America their permanent home.

The couple have had their 24 acre estate, dubbed Beckingham Palace, valued by estate agents.

They bought the property in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire for £2.5million in 1999 and it is now estimated to be worth as much as £18million.

Sources close to the stars say they are keen to sell but the Grade II listed building and surrounding land but it is not yet on the market.

The couple have spent more than £18million renovating it over the years - and the estate boasts an indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a petting zoo, recording studio, a snooker room, a gym, and state-of-the-art floodlit tennis courts.

The garden has three £10,000 gazebos, each with a different theme – lakeside, romantic and ornamental. They have also installed a 52ft garden pavilion with a marble floor, which houses a 4ft barbecue that cost £70,000.

It is understood the Beckhams, who are worth £125million, want to make Los Angeles their main base for the family and feel their sons, Brooklyn, 11, Romeo, eight, and Cruz, five, are happily settled there.

 

Since moving three years ago when David, 35, joined LA Galaxy football club, they have adapted easily to life in LA.

The couple has a circle of close showbusiness friends including Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Eva Longoria and Kate Beckinsale.

 

 

Mrs Beckham,36, dined out with Miss Longoria on Saturday night and friend Gordon Ramsay at his restaurant Maze.

The former Spice Girl wrote about their evening on micro-blogging site Twitter saying: 'Out with Eva Longoria who is looking amazing in one of my dresses from the fall collection.’

 

 

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The decision to sell comes after they hired accountants to examine their income and outgoings, which found they spend hundreds of thousands on running homes all over the world – an expense which could be easily cut back.

The Beckhams already own a £11 million house in Beverly Hills, as well as a £2million château in France and a luxury apartment in Dubai, and decided running a UK mansion was a needless expense.

 

 

 

 

Dinner date: Victoria and friend Eva Longoria dined at Maze in London last night with the proprietor himself - Gordom Ramsay and his wife Tana

 

In the past few months the couple have scaled back the number of staff they have at the Hertfordshire property.

 

Sources say they plan to buy a central London townhouse and are considering options in Chelsea or Belgravia but this will simply be for UK visits rather than living in.

 

Mrs Beckham has now carved a career as a fashion designer and often flies to London for business but rarely stays longer than a week.

She is in the UK for a final run-through before she takes her new collection to New York Fashion Week on September 12th.

Beckham is currently injured so unable to play but his contract with LA Galaxy runs for another three years and is worth an estimated £12million.

A spokeswoman for the Beckhams said: ‘I can confirm David and Victoria have had their UK home valued.'

 

 

Enlarge Residents: The Beckhams already own a £11 million house in Beverly Hills

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1309233/David-Victoria-Beckham-Beckingham-Palace-sale.html#ixzz0yjND4DHi