Architecturally challenging home rebuilds have long been a staple of TV favourite Grand Designs – where the tension of balancing owners’ big ambitions with their limited budgets provides a gripping sense of jeopardy.

But a scene now unfolding in one particularly well-heeled corner of the famously moneyed Cotswolds is of a different order altogether: because although this makeover is as ambitious as any of its kind ever attempted in UK history, the budget is practically unlimited.

And that’s because the owner in this case is Sir Jony Ive – the design guru credited with making Apple products like the iPhone, iPad and iMac the best selling tech products in history – whose personal fortune is so vast he is thought to be nearing billionaire status.

And it’s just as well Sir Jony is renowned for his attention to detail because his Tudor manor house has Grade I listed status which means the enormous upgrade he is undertaking has to be carried out with micro-level care if he’s not to fall foul of heritage inspectors.

Sir Jony, 58, is thought to have decided to return permanently to the UK after three triumphant decades in California which saw him spend £17million to acquire the historic manor house set in four acres of landscaped grounds.

Apple’s former lead designer bought the sprawling property in a chocolate box village in Gloucestershire in 2023, a year after he officially left Apple.

When Sir Jony and his wife Heather Pegg eventually move into their home, they will become the latest of the rich and famous now making the Cotswolds their home joining the likes of David and Victoria Beckham, Ellen Degeneres and Beyonce and Jay Z.

As well as the manor house itself being Grade I listed – the highest category of protection in English law covering only the most noteworthy properties – a number of outbuildings on the estate are Grade II listed, providing further challenges to Sir Jony’s scheme.

Sir Jony Ive – the design guru behind iconic Apple products like the iPhone, iPad and iMac – is thought to have decided to return permanently to the UK after three triumphant decades in California, to the £17million home (pictured) he bought in the Cotswolds in 2023

And it’s just as well he is renowned for his attention to detail because his Tudor manor house, which he is currently renovating (pictured), is Grade I listed – so the enormous upgrade needs to be carried out with micro-level care if he’s not to fall foul of heritage inspectors

In addition, a number of outbuildings on the estate (pictured) are Grade II listed, providing further challenges to Sir Jony’s scheme

Plans for the extraordinary project have been submitted by architects working on behalf of Sir Jony to the local council

When Sir Jony and his wife Heather Pegg (pictured together in 2017) eventually move into their home, they will become the latest of the rich and famous now making the Cotswolds their home

But the designer is completely rethinking the layout of the estate to make his new family home more modern and sleeker – without compromising its historic status.

And while the budget for the project has not been made public, the fact that Ive is using Foster and Partners – one of the most renowned architectural firms in the world, founded by legendary Lord Foster – gives a sense of how money is no object in the budget.

One local told us: ‘The most ambitious project on Grand Designs has nothing on what’s happening here – what Sir John is doing is like trying to build a James Bond villain’s lair inside the fragile shell of a very old building.

‘He even has a Bond villain’s private army in the shape of the dozens of workers he’s using every day. And amazingly he seems to be carrying it off without any drama at all – which is frankly incredible.’

The three year renovation project, which started a few months ago, is now in full swing with the main building now scaffolded and hidden under vast plastic covers and as many as 100 workers on site each day.

Meanwhile the high profile owner is thought to be living off site but visiting regularly to keep tabs on the fine details.

Among the upgrades planned by Sir Jony and artist Heather, who married in 1987 and who have two adult children, are decidedly non-Tudor: there will be an underground car park and a swimming pool.

The existing tennis court is set to be completely rebuilt while the home’s historic riding stables are set to get a full makeover.

The home will also have a Silicon Valley spec studio created which might be used for further developing Sir Jony’s latest project – he’s working with ChatGPT’s creator Sam Alton on a new AI product.

The old property will also get underfloor heating, while some of the home’s outbuildings that aren’t listed, including a workshop and machinery stores, as well as the housekeepers quarters, are set to be demolished.

While the budget for overhauling the estate (pictured) has not been made public, the fact Ive is using Foster and Partners – one of the most renowned architectural firms in the world, founded by legendary Lord Foster – gives a sense of how money is no object

The three year renovation project, which started a few months ago, is now in full swing with the main building now scaffolded and hidden under vast plastic covers (pictured)

The project has received planning permission from the council and is expected to take three years 

In order to assuage any concerns that the renovations will disturb wildlife on the estate they have voluntarily decided to build a bat house in the grounds.

There will also be an independent electrical substation to power the estate.

In a nod to the traditions of an historic estate, there are also plans to build an orangery – a cross between a green house and a conservatory where exotic fruit could be grown.

A cottage on the grounds will also get a modern makeover.

Foster and Partners said that the three-year project will deliver ‘an architectural vision’.

Designers said the manor offers ‘an exceptional opportunity to preserve and enhance important historic buildings set within a landscape’.

The group added that the couple intend to continue to use the property as a family home as it has been used for centuries previously.

When the plans first surfaced there was uproar from locals living in the upmarket hamlet with some calling the scale of the proposals ‘ridiculous’ and ‘a pretentious vanity project’, according to local reports.

Meanwhile the high profile owner (left, with fellow Apple designer Marc Newson) is thought to be living off site but visiting regularly to keep tabs on the fine details

Among the upgrades planned by Sir Jony (pictured in 2021) and artist Heather, who married in 1987 and who have two adult children, are an underground car park and a swimming pool

One resident in the picturesque village said at the time: ‘The prospect of this lasting over three years is totally unacceptable, especially for someone who is not going to live here.

‘This vanity project will impact greatly on the community without any benefit to the community.’

Another added ‘The listed walls must not be tampered with. The owner seeks to turn the Manor into a private fortress.’

The local Parish Council held a meeting where 50 locals turned up to voice their concerns – mostly about the traffic and how long the project would take.

Yet conciliatory Sir Jony appears to have gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure such concerns were not borne out – launching a charm offensive and ensuring disruption is kept to a minimum.

As a result village residents appear to have been almost entirely won over by the Ives’ ‘terribly kind’ nature – and gestures like a generous donation of wine to a literary festival held in a neighbouring village of Bibury.

Even when the main road in front of the manor estate had to be partially closed as water works were carried out on the site recently, there was no local uprising.

One neighbour told the Daily Mail: ‘We were concerned at the scale of the planned works.

‘The initial feeling was that it was bound to cause disruption in a village this small when someone buys a house that big and they want to substantially renovate it.

‘Having said that all the workers are very pleasant and the Ives who have bought it are a terribly nice couple who are very aware of any disruption they are causing in the village.’

And local councillor Craig Chapman, who sits on the parish council’s committee for the development has said that Ives have continued to work with the community to make sure there are no issues as works continue.

He said: ‘They have been the most collaborative group I can imagine. There have been no issues.

‘They came to the parish council to present on the project then we agreed to set up a working group and they have been perfect.

When the plans for the estate (pictured) first surfaced there was uproar from locals living in the upmarket hamlet with some calling the scale of the proposals ‘ridiculous’ and ‘a pretentious vanity project’

Yet conciliatory Sir Jony appears to have gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure such concerns were not borne out – launching a charm offensive and ensuring disruption to the project at his new home (pictured) is kept to a minimum

As a result village residents appear to have been almost entirely won over by Sir Jony (pictured at Goodwood in 2021) and his family’s ‘terribly kind’ nature – and gestures like a generous donation of wine to a literary festival held in a neighbouring village of Bibury

‘Any issues they listen to. They have a WhatsApp group where they feed information back to locals. They have been model in the way they have reacted.

‘Initially people were worried because it is a big project and they thought it was bound to disrupt the community but they have been perfect.’

Another neighbour added: ‘From what I’ve heard they have been very courteous about it all. No one I’ve spoken to seems to have an issue with it and of course they’ve known about it for ages.’