Sophie Turner claims that she and Joe Jonas had planned to move into their new home on the bank of the River Thames by Christmas.
The pair exchanged contracts on a “beautiful country property” for an undisclosed sum near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, in July of this year, according to court documents filed in the ongoing custody battle between the Game of Thrones star and her musician husband.
The filing shows completion on the property purchase was due to go ahead in the first week of December, with the pair planning on hosting friends and family at their new place over the festive season.
They put their 1970s waterfront Miami mansion on the market in April, where it sold for a reported $15 million (£12.3 million).
Swapping subtropical Miami for rural Oxfordshire is a change of pace, but the Turner-Jonas’s wouldn’t be the first celebrities to flock to the banks of the Thames.
Celebrity hotspot
George and Amal Clooney live in a 17th century Grade-II listed home on an island in the river at Sonning Eye.
Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry also live in the area and are frequently sighted around Henley, where Mary Berry lives with her husband.
The late George Michael was also a fan of this corner of Oxfordshire, purchasing a 16th-century home on the riverbank.
For working celebrities, the location is highly convenient, said Phil Booth, managing director of Philip Booth Esq estate agency.
“The British film studio scene is alive and well in this part of the South, with Leavesden, Pinewood and the fledgling Shinfield Studios and Marlow Studios all less than an hour away,” he said. “The local area has been abuzz with major productions for Disney and Warner Bros being filmed here in recent years.”
Turner herself has been filming her new ITVX TV series, Joan, on location in Warwickshire, also a relatively short commute away. In interviews, the actress has enthused about her own rural upbringing in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
The commute into London via road or rail takes about an hour, while Heathrow is only 35 minutes from South Oxfordshire for stars needing to fly to New York or Los Angeles.
“It’s no surprise that it should be the destination of choice for those who are looking for this comfortable lifestyle,” added Booth. “It’s very hard to beat.”
As part of the custody battle, the court filings also reveal the other properties the couple have called home.
A rural rental in Warwickshire
While house hunting in England, the couple rented a farmhouse in Warwickshire on a long term basis as a base for their family.
They had previously rented the house in the same county as Turner’s family over Christmas 2022.
Turner is currently filming new series Joan in Warwickshire, her first acting job since she took a break to have the couple’s two children.
The retro Miami mansion
With plans in motion to settle and raise their children in England, Turner and Jonas put their million Miami house on the market in April 2023.
Originally listed at £13.9 million ($17 million), they slashed the asking price and sold it for £12.3 million ($15 million).
The couple purchased the 1970s waterfront property in 2021 for £9 million ($11 million) and enlisted interior designer Sarah Ivory to re-do the interiors.
But according to the court documents filed by Turner in New York, they only stayed there three times in the past year.
Having spent a grand total of 11 weeks occupying the property over the last 12 months, the pair are understood to have packed up most of the family’s belongings and shipped them to England.
Living out of hotels
Lawyers for Turner said that due to the couple’s “respective work schedules and commitments” they spent most of their time recently living out of hotels, short term rentals, and friends houses.
Along with hotel stays in London and Las Vegas, the couple rented homes in London, New York, Lake Tahoe in California and Puglia in Italy.
They also crashed at a friend’s house in the Hamptons for a few nights.
Change is hard for Turner, she has previously stated. “I like consistency,” she told Elle before the birth of her second child. “I move everything – my daughter, my entire house! There is no more staying in hotel rooms. We get a house and commit to it.”
A first home in Los Angeles
Jonas and Turner’s first home as a married couple was in Los Angeles, California.
The Jae Omar-designed home was built in 2019.
Turner installed the throne where her character Sansa Stark was crowned Queen of the North in the £12.1 million mansion in the San Fernando Valley.
The couple eloped to be married in Las Vegas in 2019, followed by a more traditional ceremony held at a French chateaux in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
