'Concrete and glass monstrosity': Ellen DeGeneres' newly-built home in UK roasted following her departure from US to avoid Trump presidency
After only moving to the UK in 2024 with her wife, Australian actress Portia de Rossi, the couple have now put their $20 million (£15 million) Cotswolds farmhouse on the market and have moved into a hilltop mansion in Oxfordshire.
The single-storey home was built by a UK-based developer, describing the glass-fronted house as an attempt at redefining "rural modern living".
The monolithic building has been described by businessman and utility industry expert Steve Loftus as a "concrete and glass monstrosity" while another described the design as a "genuine hate crime".
Others took aim at the new home, which the couple ultimately moved into following a series of reported issues at their farmhouse, including flooding.
"The inside of Ellen DeGeneres' home in the Cotswolds is totally devoid of any personality...which, I mean... Not only did she likely pay a fortune for the build, she also probably paid an 'interior decorator' for this. It looks like a prison," one said on X.
"She had total control over the design and she went with 'unfinished bunker but with more grey and less functionality'. Says a lot about her personality (or lack thereof)," another wrote.
"I'm struggling to see any 'farmhouse roots'! It's a brutalist bunker," a third said.
Another compared the residence to that of a home of a villain in the James Bond film series.
The home is about a 30-minute drive from the farmhouse, and fans of the celebrity couple got a glimpse into the view from their house in April when Ellen posted a photo of de Rossi who was photographing a rainbow from their front yard.
The criticism over DeGeneres' new home comes after she confirmed she and her wife permanently relocated to the UK after Donald Trump's return to the White House.
The 67-year-old comedian made the candid admission during a live conversation with BBC broadcaster Richard Bacon at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham on Sunday.
DeGeneres explained the pair initially planned to spend just a few months each year in the UK and purchased what they believed would be a "part-time house" in the Cotswolds in 2024.
But the couple decided to stay put after Trump defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the latest US election.
"Everything here is just better," she said of the UK.
"We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, 'He got in'.
"And we're like, 'We're staying here'."
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