When James Corden and his wife, Julia Carey, decided to return to the UK with their three children, they made sure they weren't going to do so in half measures.
The couple upgraded their London base, swapping a £6 million townhouse in Belsize Park with an enormous £11.5 million mansion just down the road.
They also took on more of a project property when it came to their countryside residence.
© Lionel Hahn, GettyIn late 2021, about 18 months before he stepped down as host of his LA-based chat show, The Late Late Show, James bought a derelict home in Henley-on-Thames for £8 million.
The property, Templecombe House, is somewhat famous in the local area.
It's an Art Deco home that was constructed in the 1960s and is known for its unique C-shape.
The house also neighbours the Grade-II listed Park Place mansion, worth an estimated £140 million, on the Berkshire-Oxfordshire border.
© GettyJames Corden's renovation journey with £8 million home
James and his wife saw the property's potential and made it their business to hire a team of builders, architects and designers to begin reconstructing their dream home from the ground up.
But it hasn't been an easy feat. Templecombe House had been abandoned for some years and was subject to criminal damage, with trespassers and vandals inflicting ruin on the building.
© KIRBZ VIDSA video posted by a local on YouTube shows the abandoned property in its entirety, showing how the home was verging on "rotting" after being left for an extended period.
At the time, an outhouse building, used as a pool house, had been smashed and emblazoned with offensive graffiti.
© Shutterstock / SplashNews.comMeanwhile, the main home, clearly dated in its décor, was almost completely derelict and empty.
James and his team of restorers no doubt knew they had a big job on their hands.
© Dave BenettAccording to the Reading Chronicle, the actor and writer instructed a team to build a brand-new two-storey mansion with a revamped pool house on the grounds where Templecombe once stood.
None of this, unsurprisingly, happened overnight. The Gavin and Stacey star had to seek out planning permission, which is often a lengthy and detailed process for any homeowner, and he was faced with some setbacks.
© Getty ImagesIt wasn't until early 2023 that the family received planning permission from Wokingham Borough Council to demolish the home and start afresh.
After that, although they had permission, the official approval from authorities didn't come through until August 2023.
Finer construction details relating to the wider area, including ensuring the protection of wildlife, trees and implementing flood-prevention measures, have also been granted, meaning James and his team of architects and builders can continue with creating the family's dream home.
The grounds of the property are also home to a Grade II-listed ancient druid stone circle relocated from Jersey in 1788, which local MPs in Jersey expressed they were keen to protect, which caused some issues regarding the proximity of James's new pool house.
It's not known if builders managed a way around this, so the status of the pool house is yet unknown.
With work officially beginning in late 2023, we imagine today the property looks worlds apart from its former state.
