Sir David Attenborough, perhaps the nation's least starry celebrity, has spent a lifetime focusing on Mother Nature's wonders rather than the vacuous world of showbiz. The broadcaster and biologist, who celebrates his 100th birthday on May 8th, has often credited a low-key life in his 'favourite place on earth' for his longevity.
The near-centenarian has resided in the same relatively modest house, once shared with his late wife Jane and two children, Robert and Susan, since the early 1950s. The home is located on a quiet, leafy street just back from the River Thames in Richmond, South West London.
Richmond's Healthy Life Expectancy
The riverside town currently boasts the best healthy life expectancy in the country, at 82 years for men and 86 for women. Sir David's milestone birthday certainly pays testament to that. Born just up the road in Isleworth, David and his actor brother Richard eventually made Richmond their permanent home, after growing up in Leicester, where their father was principal of the city's university.
Richard, who died aged 90 in 2014, sold his property, Old Friars on Richmond Green, for £11.5 million two years prior to his death. David, who has travelled the globe as one of the world's leading broadcasters on the natural world, has always maintained that nowhere beats the London borough he lives in.
Why Richmond?
In 2013, he explained: 'Partly because I live there, partly because my friends and family are there. London has fine museums, the British Library is one of the greatest library institutions in the world... It's got everything you want, really. The climate suits me, and London has the greatest serious music that you can hear any day of the week in the world – you think it's going to be Vienna or Paris or somewhere, but if you go to Vienna or Paris and say, "Let's hear some good music", there isn't any.'
In the twilight of his life, however, his beloved adopted town is changing significantly. Celebrities galore, including Tom Holland and Zendaya, Ben Shepherd, and Jamie Dornan, have moved in, and tourists swarm the pretty green his late brother once resided next to in pursuit of Ted Lasso photo opportunities.
The Ted Lasso Effect
Since first airing in 2019, the hit Apple TV show has brought thousands of tourists to the narrow alleyway, Paved Court, just off the green, where US football coach Ted's flat is situated in the show, as well as the nearby The Prince's Head pub, which appears as The Crown and Anchor on screen. A colourful two-storey merchandise store now sells replica AFC Richmond shirts and even £9.50 boxes of the shortbread Lasso makes in the show for club owner Rebecca Welton, played by Hannah Waddingham.
However, Paved Court has also experienced the pitfalls of being such a high-profile thoroughfare. At the end of January, two men were seen smashing the windows of Gregory & Co jewellers with a large hammer in a video that went viral online. Three men have since been charged in relation to the incident.
Celebrity Influx
The ratio of celebrities to mere mortals living in the borough shifted again recently, when Richard Osman, author of best-selling The Thursday Murder Club series, reportedly snapped up an £8 million home there. The 55-year-old, whose first novel spawned Steven Spielberg's 2025 movie starring Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan, has decamped from nearby Chiswick, upgrading to a regal period property on Richmond Hill with wife Ingrid Oliver.
While perennially popular – Richard E Grant, The Rolling Stones, and Sir David Attenborough all discovered this pretty South West London riverside town decades ago – Richmond's popularity with major stars has ratcheted up a notch in recent years. House prices in the town average out at nearly £900,000, compared to around £300,000 for the rest of the UK. If homes in the likes of Primrose Hill, Holland Park, Chelsea, and Hampstead were once London's most lusted after addresses, it seems the exodus a little further west has begun in earnest.
Across Richmond Park, the 1000-hectare green space once used as a hunting ground for Henry VIII, you'll find the London home of Spiderman star Tom Holland and fellow A-lister Zendaya. The couple, who have dramatically renovated the townhouse they bought for £2.5 million back in 2017, have been spotted shopping in Waitrose in nearby New Malden, enjoying long walks with their beloved black miniature schnauzer, Noon, in the royal park, and dining out at posh garden centre Petersham Nurseries.
Other Notable Residents
- Richard E. Grant still lives in the Georgian home he shared with his late wife Joan Washington.
- Sarah Lancashire and TV exec Peter Salmon reside in a luxury development close to the Thames.
- Comedian Rob Brydon has a home in the Strawberry Hill area of Twickenham.
- This Morning presenter Ben Shephard and his wife Annie purchased a £3.5 million 10-bedroom mansion, a former ecclesiastical residence a stone's throw from the Thames, last year.
- Actress Jane Horrocks, most famous for her role as Bubbles in Absolutely Fabulous, is regularly seen shopping on bustling George Street.
- Spurs manager Thomas Frank, who used to lead nearby West London club Brentford, is also a resident.
- Matt Brittin, the new Director General of the BBC, lives up the road in Teddington.
One local resident recently told the Daily Mail: 'There are lots of celebrities living in Richmond, but not many of us have spotted Tom and Zendaya yet. Most people don't bat an eyelid when a famous face strolls through the town – they generally go unnoticed.'
