Dom Joly: ‘I sold my bright orange flat to Salman Rushdie – it wasn’t a good place to hide’

Stars In Their Homes: Comedian and writer swapped the whirlwinds of London and Lebanon for Regency Cheltenham.

Dom Joly, 56, is a comedian and writer, best known as the star of Trigger Happy TV.

 

He has owned several properties, including a Notting Hill flat in west London which he sold to the writer Salman Rushdie.

 

Since 2019, he has lived in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, with his wife, Stacey MacDougall, and their two children.

 

What attracted you to your home?

It’s odd. My Regency townhouse, in a square in Pittville, Cheltenham, goes against everything I like in the sense that I’ve always loved loft living or long, wide spaces.

 

This is the exact opposite – it’s thin and tall. But it’s beautiful.

 

I thought if I’m going to move to Cheltenham – and it’s gorgeous architecturally – I’ve got to live somewhere that is pleasing to me.

 

Does your house have many period features?

It has everything – beautiful cornices, tall ceilings and big windows. But we’re not purists when it comes to decorating our Regency home. We don’t have pictures of racehorses.

 

Do you have a garden?

We have an urban garden, which means it’s tiny. We have high walls around the back and it’s a suntrap, so I’ve created a Moroccan-style tiled garden. It’s a little oasis and I was so grateful to have it during the pandemic.

 

The next-door property is several flats. One of our neighbours works in the hospitality industry so we had parties during lockdown where we would lean out of windows and pass cocktails to each other.

 

It was a weird experience – like living in those monasteries on a hill in Meteora in Greece.