Jonathan Ross wants to build 16-metre barn at his luxury Grade II-listed £2million farm – but insists it is for his lawnmowers, not parties with his celebrity friends

DAILYMAIL.COM • 3h ago

By CHRIS WHITE 00:01 12 Oct 2026, updated 00:05 12 Oct 2026

Chat show host Jonathan Ross wants to build a huge barn at his luxury Grade II-listed £2million farm – and says it is to house his garden machinery used to maintain his six-acre garden.

The star, who lives on a non-working farm in Swanage, has put in a planning application to Dorset Council for an ‘agricultural storage building’.

While many other celebrities have created special party barns at their similar rural escapes – such as Kate Moss and Jeremy Clarkson in the Cotswolds – the TV presenter has promised that his 16-metre-long outbuilding won’t be used as a ‘recreational facility’.

The planning statement, from AddisonRees Planning Consultancy Ltd, read: ‘The agricultural barn would remain ancillary and incidental to the Cauldron Barn Farm complex.

‘It would not create an independent recreational facility nor introduce a separate commercial use into the countryside.’

The document stated that the barn would be solely for ‘tractor and maintenance equipment’ plus ‘a workshop’, and that it would be 16 metres long by six metres wide.

It further read: ‘This application seeks permission for the construction of an agricultural storage barn to be sited within the agricultural land associated with the farm.

‘The proposed barn would be finished in cedar cladding above a brick plinth with a traditional tiled roof, and provide storage for larger agricultural machinery (tractor etc), secure agricultural and land management equipment store, as well as small associated maintenance workshop.’

The property already boasts its own orchard and stables plus a 50-metre indoor swimming pool in what used to be a cattle barn.

Ross’s planning team said: ‘The position of the proposed barn and the design and scale of such, it would not be highly visible, if at all, from any public vantage point’, adding that it ‘would not impact on the amenity of any neighbouring dwelling in terms of loss of light or privacy’.

While Ross and his wife, Jane Goldman, can claim to be keeping hold of the more traditional way of life in their area, he’s still in the thick of a battle with developers who want to build a housing estate close to his historic home.

Developers are planning to convert Harrow House International College, which closed in 2021 after 52 years, into a mixture of flats and homes to help meet the area’s planning targets.

When this was initially reported in August 2024, the plan was for 93 homes – 14 apartments in the existing school building, 38 one to three-bedroom flats in three apartment blocks, and 41 two to four-bedroom homes.

This has since been watered down to 73 homes due to the sheer number of objections from council departments and the town council, which still ‘strongly objects’ to the project ‘particularly regarding the complete absence of community-led, genuinely affordable housing within the proposed development.’

It led to Ross writing a letter of complaint himself, along with dozens of other residents, about the proposal claiming that it will cause a ‘distressing loss of privacy’ as the homes will look straight into the bedrooms of his 16th-century property.

Mr Ross said he has turned down ‘many approaches’ from property developers to buy up his land as he ‘was conscious of the impact’ new dwellings ‘would have on the entire community’.

Mr Ross, in his letter of objection to Dorset Council planners, said: ‘Building up the height of the current buildings would mean that our property would be directly overlooked.

‘We have bedrooms that face towards the proposed development and the loss of privacy would be very distressing and cause a great deal of stress.

‘We are also concerned about the change to the fabric of local life caused by so many new dwellings in the area, and the direct impact on traffic and amenities.

‘We’ve been approached many times by developers asking to buy our land for the same purpose and refuse because we are conscious of the impact it would have on the entire community.

‘Building work on this scale would have a negative impact on wildlife.’

But the fight goes on with Westcoast developments, who have continually tweaked their plans, but still faced a barrage of opposition, stating in its most recent design statement that the reduction of houses ‘and resultant density responds directly to feedback received from officers.’

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