Celebrities with Homes in Puglia
Of course brushing shoulders with celebs isnt the main reason to buy a Dream Homes masseria in Salento, but it is pretty amazing how many famous names have decided that this lovely spot in southern Italy is perfect for a holiday or permanent home. So just which stars have chosen the region?
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Helen Mirren
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A visit to Puglia while promoting her film The Queen, plus knowledge of the region through old friend Lord McAlpine, led to the Oscar-winning star buying a 500-year-old property near Tiggiano, not far from Lecce. The press describe the property as a castle, but after looking at the photos it looks more like a masseria to me. The house needs some work, to put it mildly, and apparently cost about 850,000.You can read more about it here
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Amanda Lamb |
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The popular presenter of Channel Fours A Place in the Sun owns a two-bedroom apartment in an 18th century palazzo in Nardo, about 30km from Lecce. The well-travelled presenter fell in love with an apartment when showing it some prospective buyers during filming of the show last year. They bought it, but Lamb got one in the building next door. It is currently undergoing renovations. On Channel Fours website she writes: Its just around the corner from Dame Helen Mirrens. Well, if its good enough for the Queen, its good enough for me.
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Lord McAlpine |
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The former Tory party treasurer and deputy chairman Alistair McAlpine and wife Athena own Il Convento di Santa Maria di Constantinopoli in Marittime di Diso, near Lecce. The property is run as a very upmarket B&B. It has eight guest rooms, each individually decorated, a cloistered courtyard and the rooms have the vaulted ceilings so typical of the area. The property is packed with McAlpines multi-ethnic art and book collections and the garden shows off his new passion cacti.
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Mickey Rourke |
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The American actor had been searching for some time in the area before buying a masseria in Salento.
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Francis Ford Coppola |
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The Academy award-winning American film director spent years looking for a masseria in Puglia, before settling for one in Ugento at the tip of the Salentine peninsula. His family were originally from the area before moving to Basilicata in the 1700s, so he wanted to get back to his roots.
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Mick Hucknall |
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The Simply Red singer is a fan of the area and has bought a masseria in Minervino.
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Suggs |
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The ex-Madness singer and promoter of a certain frozen food line is a frequent visitor to the area and sometimes seen on Ryanair flights in to Brindisi as mentioned in our blog, written by new masseria owner Claire Simpson. Suggs owns a house at Borgagne, Melendugno.
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Mikhail Gorbaciov |
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The ex-president of the Soviet Union and Nobel peace prize-winner usually spends his summer hols in Castro, Puglia.
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