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Rowan Atkinson’s Modernist Mansion Has Secret Garage, Space Age Gas Station Vibes

Forever boxed in our collective memory as the goofy and sometimes infuriatingly-stupid Mr. Bean, Rowan Atkinson is a man of exclusive tastes. A well-versed comedian and author, Atkinson is also a savvy businessman, passionate car collector and racer and, as it turns out, a keen admirer of late modernist architecture.
Rowan Atkinson's Oxfordshire mansion, by architect Richard Meier 23 photos
Photo: Dezeen
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His newest home is a prime example of that. It’s not technically new in the sense that he’s just acquired it, but rather because he only moved in it recently, after more than 15 years from when he bought the land on which it sits. Described as a space age gas station by local farmers, the property is located on top of a hill in Ipsden, Oxfordshire, and is just the kind of house you’d expect a true petrolhead to own.

It’s controversial, too. British tabloid the Daily Mail says that Atkinson only moved into the house recently, even though it was completed in 2017 – the same year it won a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Regional Award. It took the star more than a decade to get approval and to finalize construction on the designs by American architect Richard Meier, one of the last working modernists.

The issue boiled down to the modernist aspect of the house, which is in stark contrast to the country manors or houses in the quaint village. The fact that it replaced a 1930s construction known as Handsmooth House, which Atkinson had buldozered in ordered to build his dream house, also contributed with the locals’ ill-will toward the project.

Rowan Atkinson's Oxfordshire mansion, by architect Richard Meier
Photo: Dezeen
The estate now comprises two separate buildings, the main house and a self-contained guest house. The three-story house offers 837 square meters (9,009 square feet) of living space, while the guest house is 141 square meters (1,518 square feet). Exact details on either building have not been made public, since this is private property and a privately-funded construction, but Meier did talk to Dezeen about it in 2019, when he described it as a piece of livable art.

“Our primary site goal is always to create a strong sense of place, by enhancing or transforming the existing site in a unique and provocative way,” he explained, partly addressing controversy that the mansion stuck out from the local landscape like a sore thumb. “The site is open landscape and the way the house is organized and situated would be like many English manor houses. So the siting and the context is related to the English manor houses of the past.”

In reality, there is nothing evocative of the past in this all-white, futuristic, concrete-and-glass construction. The Mail claims Atkinson spent some $6.7 million to build and furnish it, in addition to the $3.3 million he paid for the land in 2006. For this money, he got an airy, visually striking home that would fit right in in the Mediterranean landscape with its vast open spaces, bright-lit rooms, and neutral-colored finishes.

The same tab notes that the estate comes with a “secret,” probably underground garage, which should come as a surprise only to those who don’t know anything of Atkinson’s passion for cars. Unlike most celebrities, Atkinson doesn’t like garage queens, but he still has to have a place to store at least some of the entries in his reported $13.4 million collection.

Rowan Atkinson's Oxfordshire mansion, by architect Richard Meier
Photo: Dezeen
Said collection included, at various points in time, a 1986 Aston Martin V8 Zagato, a 1977 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, a 2014 Bentley Birkin Mulsanne edition, a very rare McLaren F1 he crashed twice before selling it for $10 million through a private dealership, a 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint, a BMW 328, a 1989 Lancia Delta HF Integrale, and a Lancia Thema 8.32.

Famously, Atkinson once said he’d never owned a Porsche, because “somehow the typical Porsche people – and I wish them no ill – are not, I feel, my kind of people.” Just in case you needed something else to get your curiosity about his collection at peak levels.

Back to the topic of the mansion, Meier said that the main house was organized according to function: utilities and a gym down below, with the living and socializing areas located on the ground floor. The upper floors are for the five bedrooms with ensuites. The property also comes with an outdoor pool and its own small patch of wooded land. The main house and the guest lodgings are connected by a bridge that arches over the property.

Photos in the gallery will offer an approximation of how striking this particular English country manor must be.
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About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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