Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have quietly rewritten their daily routine — and their address. In 2024, the longtime couple left behind their Montecito, California estate and settled into the English countryside, choosing the Cotswolds for a slower, more anonymous chapter.
Locals in the village they now call home say sightings of the pair have become increasingly normal. Walks through town, casual stops, blending in rather than standing out — it’s a far cry from the high-profile life Ellen lived for nearly two decades while filming her daytime talk show in Los Angeles.
Although the move may have been in the works for some time, the reality of it still caught many off guard. In the fall of 2024, it emerged that Ellen and Portia hadn’t just changed neighborhoods — they’d changed countries. Ellen, who turns 68 on January 26, had spent 19 years at the center of American television before quietly stepping away.
The timing was meaningful. On December 1, 2024, Ellen marked 20 years together with Portia by sharing a heartfelt message about gratitude, partnership, and the excitement of exploring the world side by side. She even hinted at a milestone the couple hadn’t experienced before — their first snowy Christmas together.
Property projects remain part of their life. After renovating a farmhouse in the Cotswolds, they listed it in July and moved again, this time into a more modern home known locally as Kitesbridge Farm in Oxfordshire. Despite occasional visits back to Southern California, the couple appears committed to staying in the U.K. for the foreseeable future. They celebrated 17 years of marriage in August.
Professionally, Ellen had already been signaling closure. In 2024, she filmed her stand-up special For Your Approval and toured with what she called her final comedy run. Onstage, she reflected openly on fame, public perception, and the controversies that surrounded the final years of her show.
She acknowledged that headlines about workplace culture had changed how people saw her — and how she saw herself. Joking and self-aware, she addressed the gap between the cheerful TV persona and the reality behind the scenes, even poking fun at the “be kind” image that followed her for years.
What she didn’t reveal at the time was that she and Portia were preparing for a full reset. They sold their California home, moved into their English farmhouse, and did it all without announcements or fanfare. Despite reports of flooding during heavy rains in November 2024, Ellen later said their home remained unaffected.
Weeks after the November 5 presidential election, the couple was spotted at a local pub in Burford, watching an acoustic performance by The Corrs alongside familiar faces like Natalie Imbruglia and James Blunt. It wasn’t a publicity stop — it was a night out.
Pub owner Jeremy Clarkson later commented that Ellen was friendly and well-liked, brushing aside claims that she had been “canceled.” Staff, he said, found her warm and approachable.
More recently, Ellen and Portia were seen strolling through the village in coats and wellington boots, looking indistinguishable from their neighbors. No cameras, no crowd — just a couple settling into a life they seem determined to keep quiet.
