When word spread through the English village of Sonning that someone had bought one of the finest homes in the area, a 10 million ($21 million) Grade II-listed manor house on the Thames, there was a certain amount of anticipation as to the identity of the new multi-millionaire owner.
Butnot in their wildest dreams did residents of the small community near Reading expect the buyer to be George Clooney.
"It was the vicar of our local church who told me," said Trishaws Redrup, 78, a retired designer. "But to be honest I couldn't quite believe it. Why Sonning?"
After marrying in Venice last month, Clooney and his new wife, the London-based human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, appear to have chosen a nine-bedroom house on a 1.6ha Thames island just outside Sonning for their marital home. The property has its own library, gym, spa and steam room, plus a cellar, boathouse and a separate cottage for guests or staff. Surrounded by dense trees and expansive gardens, it offers the seclusion required of an A-list couple.
Clooney is understood to have been drawn to the area after visiting the nearby Oxfordshire village of Fingest to shoot scenes for his film The Monuments Men.
Near-neighbours will include Uri Geller, the illusionist, and Theresa May, Britain's Home Secretary.
Clooney and his wife were reportedly spotted in the village pub, The Bull Inn, last weekend, apparently after viewing their new home. One villager, Sarah Hele, 40, said: "We are a small, friendly community where people get involved. It's a great place. We have the village show every year and the Scarecrow hunt every two years. The village rounders match is also great fun and the school children do a lovely nativity play in the local church."
