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.
1998
The power couple’s first purchase together was a roughly $400,000 penthouse in a striking redbrick Victorian-era mansion called Oakwood House, located in the very posh town of Alderley Edge, a village known for its popularity with Manchester United footballers. (Cristiano Ronaldo once lived there.) Reports are that Victoria decorated the living room in zebra print and a bathroom in leopard print (unfortunately no public pictures of her design efforts exist). The Beckhams turned a profit when they sold the apartment for roughly $733,000 in 2002.
1999
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
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Victoria and David purchased a gorgeous luxury villa on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah back in 2003. The couple wound up gifting the luxe holiday home to Victoria’s parents in 2009.
Posh and Becks also fancied vacations in the south of France, and this same year, purchased a pristine six-bedroom villa nestled in 200 acres of rolling hills in Bargemon, Cote d’Azur, for around $1.9 million. Gardens and expansive lawns surround the 19th-century mansion, and views of the stunning landscape beyond can be seen from almost every direction. Loggias, an infinity pool, a pool house, farmhouse guest quarters, and even a chapel can be found on the property. Inside the 6,500-square-foot main house, wood beam ceilings, pointed arch doorways, traditional chandeliers, deep purple hues, and black kitchen cabinets give the space a gothic feel. But after thirteen years of sporadic visits and around $6.2 million spent on renovations, the Beckhams put the property up for sale at around $2.9 million, which would have been a big loss. It remains unclear if the property was ever sold.
2005
The summer of 2003 saw David transferring soccer clubs to Real Madrid. It took two years, however, before the family purchased a home in Spain. They rented until eventually buying a two-story, five-bedroom, Tuscan-style manse located in the La Moraleja area featuring lush green grounds, a full tennis court, an outdoor heated pool, a small soccer pitch, and a designated children’s play section. It was reported that the couple spent about $430,000 in renovations, but only after a Feng Shui expert was called in. An extended stay on the two-acre property was not to be, since David left Europe altogether in 2007 to join the LA Galaxy in the United States. Unfortunately, the Beckhams chose a terrible time to sell the home, as it was the beginning of a Spanish real estate crash. During the family’s time in Los Angeles, the empty Spanish residence wallowed on the market for eight years before a businessman from Madrid offered the star couple $5.2 million for the estate.
2007
Upon arrival in the States, the Beckhams picked up a palatial Beverly Hills property for $18.2 million. The 11,497-square-foot H-shaped Italian-style villa had six bedrooms and nine-and-a-half bathrooms, an elevator, library, and a combo media and music room. Eventually, this place netted them a huge profit when they sold it for $33 million in an off-market deal in 2018.
2009
Giving over their glam villa to Victoria’s parents did not mean that the Beckhams abandoned Dubai. Instead, they bought a condo in the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Reports place the value of the apartment at around $5 million.
2013
These days, the Beckhams’ home-base is their townhouse in Holland Park, Central London. The couple bought the Grade II–listed Victorian home in 2013 for an estimated $37.9 million and spent almost $10 million in renovations in 2016, including building separate quarters on an adjacent empty plot of land for son Brooklyn. The four-story mansion features six bedrooms, a state-of-the-art kitchen with black cabinetry and open shelving, an indoor pool, wine cellar, gym, a fashion runway, nail salon, and even a rumored escape tunnel under the garden.
2016
Like most well-heeled English folk, Victoria and David Beckham purchased a proper country home in 2016. The Beckhams bought three Grade II farmhouses in the Cotswolds, the quintessential English countryside known to attract British royalty and celebrities. They spent $7.6 million and converted the homes into one nine-bedroom forever country home. Extensive work has been done on the grounds of the two-acre site with the Beckhams creating a ‘natural’ lake-type swimming hole filled with recycled water, and planting gardens, meadows, fields, and an orchard with 23 types of trees designed by British celeb landscaper Marcus Barnett. They have also added a wine cellar, an outdoor swimming pool, a traditional Estonian sauna and hot tub, a plunge pool, and a safari-style tent said to cost over $61,0000. A tennis court had been added early on, but has now been converted to a soccer pitch, complete with bleachers. One outlet even reports that the couple have put in applications for another escape tunnel. With all the upgrades and renovations, the country estate is now said to be valued at $14.7 million dollars.
2020
As co-owner and president of Miami’s relatively new Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, or Inter Miami CF as it is more commonly known, it only makes sense for David to own a place in the coastal metropolis. The family picked up a 10,335-square-foot full-floor penthouse in Downtown Miami’s One Thousand Museum, a curvy, other-worldly-looking 60-floor skyscraper designed by the late, great female architect Zaha Hadid. The five-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bathroom luxury condo features floor-to-ceiling walls which give way to spectacular views of the water and South Beach. The unit comes with several terraces, high ceilings, high-end Italian finishes, and even integrated sound and security systems. Apart from the standard gym and pool that seems requisite for most luxury buildings, this one also comes with a helipad, roofed driveways, lightning-speed elevators to each apartment, a wellness center, and according to one report, “custom scenting” in common areas like the lobby and communal dining spaces. Reports put the purchase price of this particular unit at $24 million.
