When David and Victoria Beckham began dating in 1997, Victoria was already uberfamous as one-fifth of the pop music juggernaut Spice Girls, and David had just begun his ascent as a worldwide megastar athlete. After 21 years of marriage, Victoria has evolved into a successful high-fashion designer with her namesake clothing and beauty lines, and David has played for some of the biggest clubs in the world. He has become one of soccer’s most decorated players and one of its most bankable faces, even in retirement. As a couple, their good looks and penchant for matching outfits kept the press glued to their every move and although the parents of four seemed to relish the spotlight on the red carpet, it turns out they’re extremely private when it comes to their home life. The two have owned several houses over the years, but have rarely let the public in, giving glimpses of home life only through one-off social media pictures. Below, we take a walk through the couple’s real estate portfolio throughout the years.
1996
This was the year David Beckham scored the superb halfway line goal that catapulted him into international superstardom. It was also the year the football legend scored his first home, paying the equivalent of around $187,000 for a four-bedroom redbrick semi-detached duplex in unassuming Salford, a city bordering Manchester. In a throwback video from 1997, Beckham can be seen giving a tour of his (comparatively) modest home. In what looks like tight quarters, the star footballer shows spaces like his small, enclosed living room with trophies lined up on a window sill, a simple kitchen with sky-blue cupboards, and even the hole made as he kneed the wall of his narrow stairwell during a fall. Despite the simple digs, his then girlfriend Posh Spice moved in shortly after the couple got together. The former Manchester United midfielder sold the property in 1999 for what would roughly equate to $232,000 today.
When Posh and Becks bought Rowneybury House, a Grade II–listed former children’s-home-turned-living-sanctuary, the press quickly dubbed their new home “Beckingham Palace” due to the exorbitant amount they spent on renovations at these imperial-looking digs, for which they paid roughly $3.14 million. The laundry list of amenities included seven bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, a recording studio, a game room, and a gym. Mrs. Beckham had also famously themed each room in “tacky” decor. “It’s an old house and I’ve themed every room. It’s really camp,” Posh Spice once said in an interview. There was a boudoir-themed bedroom with leopard print and ceiling mirrors, and a Disney-theme frieze in the nursery. And while we can’t confirm the existence of an Audrey Hepburn–themed bathroom with his-and-hers monogrammed toilets, such a space was featured in a virtual home Victoria once had on her website, which was heavily inspired by Beckingham Palace.
As for the rest of the 24-acre grounds, it boasted tennis courts, a football pitch, gardens, a hedge labyrinth, and even “fake ancient ruins that form a children’s playground.” The Beckhams eventually sold the estate in 2014, netting just over $11 million in profit.
2001
Just as Victoria announced her second pregnancy in 2001, the family moved to a converted barn in the prestigious village of Nether Alderley on the historic Heawood Hall Estate, a Grade II–listed property believed to have been built in 1720. The Beckhams’ five-bedroom spread set them back roughly $1.5 million dollars and another $250,000 in renovations. Although it is unclear just what upgrades the Beckhams made, according to reports, the property boasted a 35-foot long indoor swimming pool housed in a barnlike structure with redbrick walls, vaulted ceilings, and wood beams; a gym; and a playroom when it went up for sale at $2.75 million in 2012. The family moved out in 2005 when their son Brooklyn was six years old; their second son, Romeo, was three; and their third son, Cruz, had just arrived.
2003
