Alan Titchmarsh has spoken candidly about the emotional decision to sell his £4million Hampshire farmhouse, revealing that it was ultimately his daughters who helped him take the difficult step toward a new chapter. The much-loved broadcaster and gardening expert, who has lived in the Grade II-listed property for more than two decades, admitted that saying goodbye to the home and garden he painstakingly restored has been “a wrench” — but one he has come to accept with optimism.
Titchmarsh first moved into the Georgian farmhouse with his wife, Alison, 23 years ago, transforming the four-acre plot into a quintessentially English haven. Over the years, the house and its grounds became central to some of the most treasured moments of his family life: countless gardening projects, family gatherings, and watching his grandchildren grow up among the meadows he had nurtured. For a man whose career has been built on his love of nature and home, leaving the property was never going to be easy.
“So why go? Well… it’s time,” he wrote in BBC Gardeners’s World. “Time for a new challenge. Time to downsize – a little – as those of us of relatively senior years are regularly told would be wise to do.”
Titchmarsh and his wife put their home in Holybourne on the market in September for £3.95million. The couple bought the Grade II-listed Georgian manor in 2002.
While Titchmarsh stresses that he had been in no rush to move, age and practicality began to play a role. Maintaining a historic house and its sprawling grounds is no small task, even for a national gardening icon. He admitted: “To be honest, we had no plans to move. When you restore an old house and make a garden around it, you pour so much of your heart and soul into it that moving on is bound to be a wrench.”
The couple had lovingly restored the farmhouse over many years, ensuring every room and every inch of the garden reflected their care, taste and vision. But despite his continued energy and refusal to “believe what the numbers tell me,” Titchmarsh acknowledged that it was wise to plan ahead.
“When you are knocking on a bit (which I refuse to believe, despite what the numbers tell me) age puts one’s muse on the future – a future which I hope will be long and fulfilling,” he said. “Looking after four acres and a Grade II-listed house has been – and still is – a treat beyond measure, but the day will come when it starts to be overwhelming and I’d rather move on to fresh pastures before that becomes the case.”
In the end, it was their daughters who found the house that would become the couple’s new home. The property, strikingly different from the old farmhouse, offered a refreshing contrast: “Long, low, modern – a complete contrast to a Georgian farmhouse.”
Even then, Titchmarsh admits he wrestled with the decision. “After making the decision, I hummed and haa-ed about the wisdom of it all. But once sound reasoning convinced me this was not giving in and winding down, but simply taking on a new challenge – a challenge that was do-able in the long term – the apprehension was replaced by excitement.”
Although he is moving forward with optimism, the emotional weight of leaving is unmistakable. He reflected warmly on the memories that shaped his years in Hampshire: “I will look back on the years spent here as some of the best of my life; seeing grandchildren come into the world and grow up running through our meadow. It has enriched our lives beyond measure and I will never forget it.”
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