As Day of the Jackal reaches its climax with the final episode tonight, find out how you can stay in Eddie Redmayne’s stunning hilltop villa from the show and rent or even purchase nine other fabulous property-porn homes from top TV shows – including Rivals, Succession and Luther…
The Day Of The Jackal (Sky/Now)
Eddie Redmayne stars in Sky’s ten-part expansion of Frederick Forsyth’s novel about an expert hitman evading the authorities. It was made with a reported £100 million budget – Sky’s most expensive yet – and you can see that money at work in plenty of places, from Redmayne’s casting to the scale of the whole production. The first episode alone hops between no less than five countries.
One of those is Spain, where Redmayne’s ‘Jackal’ lives with his wife and son in a stunning villa in Andalusia, relaxing in front of beautiful views of what we take to be the Gulf of Cadiz.
However, the property where it’s actually filmed is in Croatia, some 1,250 miles away. The Villas Rosa dei Venti overlooks Kvarner Bay near the small resort town of Rabac and is actually comprised of two houses, which you can rent through Airbnb.
It’s not cheap to live like an international assassin, though – the property goes for up to £1,600 a night in high season (almost £12,000 a week). Given there are eight bedrooms, though, and that it’s designed to take up to 20 guests, this might not be quite as unattainable as it sounds the cost is spread. Nobody should have to die to bankroll it, at least.
You can judge for yourself as it features heavily in tonight’s finale (9pm, Sky Atlantic).
It’s definitely the standout property on a show that has plenty to recommend it – not least Redmayne, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as the ice-cool assassin.
It’s not cheap to live like Eddie Redmayne’s assassin Jackal – Villas Rosa dei Venti goes for up to £1,600 a night in high season
The British actor departs the Croatian mansion with luggage to boot
Rivals (Disney+)
This glorious adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s bonkbuster succeeded because it didn’t water-down anything, from the star-packed cast – led by David Tennant and Poldark’s Aidan Turner – to the way it brought the make-believe county of Rutshire to such wonderful life on screen.
A huge part of that is the grandeur of the homes the characters live in. The lair of the villainous Tony Baddingham is actually Wiltshire’s Neston Park – home to brewing dynasty heir Sir James Fuller.
It may well also be familiar from the BBC’s 2008 series Lark Rise To Candleford or ITV’s 2007 production of Persuasion, but seeing it on screen is as close as most people will get to Neston. Unlike many stately piles on TV (such as Highclere Castle, famed for doubling as Downton Abbey, or Peaky Blinders’ Arley Hall), Neston Park isn’t open to the public.
You can, however, visit the home of Tony’s rival, Declan O’Hara. Chavenage House in Gloucestershire played home to the family, and it’s one that should have been somewhat familiar to Turner already, as the BBC used to film Poldark.
Group visitors to Chavenage can gain access for £12 a head or, for the more well-off, individual tours can be arranged for £250. There’s certainly plenty of history to learn about, as its earliest-recorded owner is Princess Goda, the sister of Edward the Confessor, who ruled England in the 11th century.
As will come as no surprise to anyone who’s seen the last episode of its first series, Rivals will be back for a second outing, so expect plenty more glorious locations to ogle… along with everything else that’s on screen.
Declan O’Hara’s pad in Rivals is Chavenage House in Gloucestershire. Its earliest-recorded owner is Princess Goda, the sister of Edward the Confessor
Aidan Turner walks shirtless through his character’s 11th century domain
Big Little Lies (Sky/Now)
This classy HBO thriller had a top-flight cast, with Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Zoe Kravitz, Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern as the women caught up in the fall-out from a murder. For large swathes of the series, however, the victim’s identity remains a mystery.
But what is very clear from the start is that most of these women have a seriously high level of living. Big Little Lies is set in the affluent California enclave of Monterey although, out of all the swankiest homes we see on screen, only the one where Celeste lives is actually on its Peninsula. The stunning home boasts some jaw-dropping views, and you’d need around £4.7 million to think seriously about buying it – although it wouldn’t get you Celeste’s bedroom and bathroom, which was a separate set.
Despite its high-status association to the most high-profile couple on the show, it’s not actually the most expensive property we see, at least not in the real world – that honour falls to the home where the relatively modest Madeline resides with husband Ed. That four-bedroom beachfront pad is actually in Malibu, and is valued at £11.6 million, while running in a close second is Renata and Gordon’s slickly futuristic five-bedroom number, also in Malibu, which comes in at £9.7 million.
Money is a big part of what drives the characters – the down-at-heel bungalow where Jane lives, for instance, is worth a much more modest £410,000 – so having the actual figures to hand adds an intriguing layer to watching the mystery unfold, which it does in near perfect fashion in series one. Series two wasn’t quite as well received, but it does add Meryl Streep to the mix.
The £4.7million pad belonging to Celeste in Pretty Little Lies on the Californian Peninsula
Ed Mackenzie, the husband of Reese Wetherspoon’s character Madeline, gazes at the Californian view through the panoramic windows of their £11.6million home
Sherlock (iPlayer)
This adaptation of Sherlock Holmes stories is chiefly and rightly remembered for the stylish twist that writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss put on the original stories. Its great cast, namely Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock and Martin Freeman as his Dr Watson, were also great hits.
It remained low-key at first but as the profile of the show grew, so did its ambitions. A clear sign of that came in His Last Vow, the closing episode to series three, which pitted Sherlock and Watson against villainous Charles Augustus Magnussen.
The dastardly media mogul lived at Appledore, a sprawling, high-tech domicile that more closely resembled the lair of a Bond villain. In reality it’s Swinhay House, the Cotswolds domain of engineer Sir David McMurtry. Swinhay features a viewing tower, a cinema, a bowling alley and a squash court and McMurtry spent £30 million completing it – a shame then that his wife, Terry, believes the ten-floor, eight-bedroom property to be ‘too flashy’.
If Sherlock ever returns, it’s likely to do so with high production values, so we could see more of this sort of thing in the future. For now, though, there’s still plenty to enjoy in the show – from the mysteries to the award-winning performances, including Andrew Scott, who was largely unknown to TV audiences when he dazzled us all as Moriarty.
Swinhay House, the Cotswolds plot of engineer Sir David McMurtry, is used in Sherlock
The villainous Charles Augustus Magnussen, played by Lars Mikkelsen, owns the futuristic property in the BBC series
Luther (BBC iPlayer)
The fifth and final series of the superb psychological detective thriller, starring Idris Elba, featured a stunning glass mansion perched on the edge of Highgate Cemetery in north London.
The striking £7 million property, known as the Grey House, is designed with four-storey, floor-to-ceiling windows providing leafy views across the eerie cemetery. But the street facade is a mysterious black curtain wall of granite and steel panels, lending it an eerie atmosphere.
The house is owned by serial killer Jeremy Lake (played by Enzo Cilenti), known as The Clown. His mask is covered with LED lights that he sports during his grisly murder spree. Lake keeps his victims in a dungeon, which is actually the property’s state-of-the-art basement cinema.
The RIBA award-winning home, built in 2008 and last on the market in 2022, has proved much in demand with TV producers. It also starred in 2009 episodes of Waking The Dead and 2011 episodes of Spooks.
The striking £7million Grey House in north London is designed with four-storey, floor-to-ceiling windows providing leafy views over the graveyard
Idris Elba, as a bloodied Luther, walks through the evil lair of serial killer Jeremy Lake
Billions (Sky/Now, P+)
Money sits at the heart of this sleek blockbusting US drama set in the world of high finance. It stars Damian Lewis as hedge-fund king Bobby ‘Axe’ Axelrod and Paul Giamatti as his nemesis, NY district attorney Chuck Rhoades.
So it’s no surprise that any self-respecting hedgie would reside in the exclusive Hamptons on Billionaires’ Lane – at 1610 Meadow Lane, Southampton, NY to be precise. The 12-bedroom mansion plays a key part in the drama, since Axe’s purchase of it in the very first episode for $63 million (£49 million) is the impetus for Chuck’s crusade to prosecute him.
The swanky oceanfront home was built on a nine-acre plot which cost $21 million (£16 million) alone. With two media rooms, a pool, tennis court, zip wire, guesthouse and children’s play area (including a playhouse model of the main house), it’s the very definition of real-estate porn and was briefly on the rental market at $275,000 (£215,000) a month. With Calvin Klein for a neighbour, it’s not something you’ll find on Airbnb.
Axe’s country estate is rather more close to home – a 17th century house near Winchester in Hampshire which was on the market last year for a mere snip at $17.5 million (£14 million).
1610 Meadow Lane in New York is on the rental market for £215,000 a month
Damian Lewis cools off in the pad’s pool as he plays Bobby Axelrod in Billions
Doctor Foster (iPlayer)
When Doctor Foster hit our screens back in 2015 it was a huge hit. Part of the reason was the way it put us right inside the mind of main character Gemma (Suranne Jones), a doctor who suspects that her husband is having an affair and the full-blown Greek tragedy that ensues from then on.
In series two, what also caught viewers’ attention was the fancy new house bought by Gemma’s property developer ex, Simon (Bertie Carvel) – a pad he planned to share with new wife Kate (Jodie Comer). Gemma bitterly describes the open-plan glass mansion as being worth £1 million. In reality, however, the house used for filming was worth at least six times more, and that was back in 2017.
Doctor Foster is set in the fictional town of Parminster while Simon’s four-bed, five-bathroom palace is actually in St George’s Hill, Surrey. That wasn’t where it started life, though – the home is a prefab built by Huf Haus in Germany that was shipped and assembled in the UK. Complete with an indoor pool and sauna, it’s an absolute dream to look (even Gemma clearly thinks so) and the owners were well compensated for moving out during filming, receiving £5,000 a day for their trouble. All of their furniture had to be moved out, too.
For their sake, you hope that any parties thrown after filming didn’t echo the unpleasant scenes that unfolded there on screen – chiefly when Gemma gatecrashed Simon’s wedding party and made everything excruciatingly tense.
The house is a great detail in the story to series two, and the icing on the cake to Mike Bartlett’s fantastic script and the cast who perform it.
This four-bed, five-bathroom palace is in St George’s Hill, Surrey, and was used in the second series of Doctor Foster
Suranne Jones, portraying the titular character, strolls around her ex-husband’s mansion
Normal People (BBC iPlayer)
Based on the 2018 novel by Sally Rooney, this romantic psychological drama charts the topsy-turvy relationship between socially mismatched Irish teens Connell and Marianne as they move from school in Sligo to university in Dublin.
It was a 2020 lockdown sensation, with audiences literally captive to its every nuance, and catapulted Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal into the big time.
In the eighth episode, Connell visits Marianne at her family’s charming Italian villa where the tension between them reaches excruciating levels of toe-curling awkwardness at the dinner table.
The ancient Tenuta di Verzano farmhouse is set in lush Roman countryside and, unlike many swanky film locations, is available to rent all year round on Airbnb. What’s more, it’s affordable at about £35… assuming you can find a slot as and when more dates come online.
It’s a relatively modest two-bedroom villa with beautiful views and a shimmering pool, which featured in the drama and helps earn it an impressive 4.94 stars on the site. You can cycle in the tracks of Connell and Marianne to nearby Stimigliano where they ate gelato in the piazza and aired their class differences.
The farmhouse, which also starred in 2010’s Eat Pray Love with Julia Roberts, doesn’t feel the need to mention Normal People in its listing. The property speaks for itself.
The ancient Tenuta di Verzano farmhouse is set in lush Roman countryside and can be rented year-round on Airbnb
Daisy Edgar-Jones stands on the diving board of the villa’s pool, flanked by gorgeous Italian countryside
The Nest (ITVX)
The BBC’s tense surrogacy drama, starring Martin Compston (Line Of Duty), Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders) and Mirren Mack (Sex Education), was a big lockdown hit for the BBC.
Affluent Scottish couple Dan and Emily seemingly have the perfect life but find themselves unable to conceive, so take on a troubled teen from the wrong side of the Glasgow tracks to become their surrogate. It is literally their last egg in the basket.
The twisting plot had audiences gripped, but there was another star of the show that had viewers talking – Cape Cove, the stunning glass-walled house on the edge of Loch Long that was home to Dan and Emily.
The house’s open-plan living space, with its seamless glass walls, creates the illusion of walking on water – fittingly, as Dan sees himself as the untouchable property king of Glasgow.
The house, overlooking the atmospheric loch with its private beach and incredible views, was an instant scene-stealer. Better still, Cape Cove is available to let, with its five bedrooms, five terraces, beachside hot tub, barbecue, fire-pit decks and gym.
Built on what was once a wartime naval outlook post, it’s available for between £4,000-6,000 a week which, spread between ten guests, represents good value. Of course, there’s no need for a swimming pool – and you can even cast off from the private jetty for your fish supper.
The Nest’s Cape Cove is available to let, with five bedrooms, five terraces, beachside hot tub, barbecue, fire-pit decks and gym
Martin Compston, Sophie Rundle and Mirren Mack pose on the property’s balcony
Succession (Sky/Now)
The obscenely wealthy characters in HBO’s addictive black comedy-drama live such extraordinary lives that the show employs specialist consultants to teach the cast the tricks of the super-rich trade, such as not ducking when disembarking from a helicopter.
So it’s no surprise that the hit show, starring Brian Cox as Logan Roy – the head of a highly dysfunctional media dynasty who toys with his squabbling offspring – should boast the most impressive porn-property portfolio on TV.
The 42-acre complex belonging to Logan Roy is the real-life Henry Ford II estate (grandson of the founder). It last sold in 2021 for £84.5million
Brian Cox overlooks his troubled Succession family, sat around one of the house’s many dining rooms
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Luxury Manhattan penthouse apartments with views over Central Park as far as the Statue of Liberty and beyond to the Atlantic Ocean are small change for the Roys and just a fraction of their fictional net worth, estimated at £14.5billion, including £278m worth of real estate across England, New York, Malibu and New Mexico.
But the jewel in the crown is the Roys’ summer house in the Hamptons. The 42-acre complex is the real-life Henry Ford II estate (grandson of the founder) which last sold in 2021 for £84.5million.
It has 12 bedrooms, a koi pond, waterfall, pool, tennis court and separate three-bedroom carriage house. Down on the private quarter-mile long beach you can wave to neighbours Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jerry Seinfeld and Paul Simon.
And if you want to get in on the uber-rich Succession action, you can hire the superyacht that features in season two. The German-built Solandge has its own beach club and pool, with dance floor, DJ station, games room, cinema, massage room, sauna and 29 crew. Yours for £850,000 for the week.