Judi Dench | House Tour | $8 Million Surrey Mansion & More

Judi Dench is an elegant and timeless actress who's had a charmed career in film and TV for decades. While she's a success in Hollywood, this UK native has preferred to spend the years of her life in her homeland, most notably in her historical farmhouse located in Surrey. Even after her husband's passing, Judi had continued to call the same village home. And it's hard to picture her living anywhere else. Also, Michael and I have dropped our own house tour of our new home that we moved into this year, so go ahead and subscribe to our personal channel if you want to see where we're living and more of what we're up to. In these videos we don't reveal any addresses, and even though I've done a house tour of my own place, please do not show up at any private residences because it's not safe for anyone. Dame Judi Dench is easily one of the most successful and well-known British performers of all time. While she spent the better part of her earlier career performing on the English stage in TV, by the 90s she'd explode into film with her performance as M through 7 James Bond films. Since then, she's gone on to be nominated for 8 Academy Awards, even taking one home for Best Supporting Actress for her appearance in Shakespeare in Love. Despite her success across the pond in Hollywood, Judi hasn't ever considered leaving her home country of the UK to live anywhere else. In the early 70s, she married her husband, fellow actor Michael Williams, and these two would spend their days together living in their long-time farmhouse in Surrey for the rest of Michael's life. Even after Michael passed away in 2001, Judi continued to call the village of Outwood home, and over the years since, she's developed a remarkable relationship with the community, oftentimes coming to their aid too. It was also in large part because Judi still lived here that she finally met another man, the conservationist David Mills, who introduced himself to her after opening a squirrel enclosure at the Wildlife Centre he runs near her home in 2010. So in many ways, you could say that Judi Dench's relationship with the place that she calls home was faded in the stars. Hey guys, it's Kara the Vampire Slayer back with another exclusive house tour here on Famous Entertainment, today checking out where Judi Dench calls home. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit me up on Instagram to chat, and now let's get into this video. Judi Dench's long-time home is nestled into the East Surrey countryside in the United Kingdom. If you were ever to visit, it's there that you would find a tiny little village known as Outwood that, despite its population of less than a thousand living souls, has a very famous citizen living here. This picturesque town is located on the Tandridge District, and on the very outskirts lies the quaint farmhouse home of Judi Dench, who has lived here since the 1970s. Judi's home was originally built as far back as 1470, and the interior of the property is said to be as large as 7,000 square feet of space. Unfortunately, Dame Judi has never invited us into her home to take a look at the place. After all, she's not exactly part of the TikTok generation, if you know what I mean. And the closest we've ever come to sneaking a peek at the inside is on her grandson's social media platforms. According to the Surrey media sources, her home is said to include a separate cottage as a guesthouse, workshops, barns, lots of land, a private pond, and her very own swimming pool as well. But more important than simply calling Outwood home, is how much Judi has come to mean to the greater community at large. So let's explore her relationship with the town a little bit. According to local sources, Dame Judi loves to pop out of her home to visit a ton of different locations around Outwood. In fact, one of her favorite spots is a local pub that sits in the very center of the village called The Castle. Not only does Judi love to enjoy the occasional pint at this place, well, when it was under the threat of being shut down, she stopped in to make sure that that wouldn't happen. During the worldwide pandemic, when businesses, especially restaurants, were shutting their doors left and right, the same thing almost happened to this place. Rather than sit around and let that happen, Judi wound up backing a campaign to save the pub from being closed down, and when a vote was held to decide once and for all what to do with the place, Judi's support of preserving the pub went a long way. It was decided to list the business as an asset to the community and give it a 5-year reprieve under which plans to alter it in any way would be denied. And preserving the local pub isn't the only thing Judi has done for the village of Outwood. She also helped open the renovated community center known as Lloyd Hall in 2015. Back then, this institution underwent a £500,000 renovation following long-standing structural issues that threatened to put it out of commission for good. So Judi lent her name and cachet to the project while also showing up to cut the ribbon when the center was reopened, drawing a crowd of over 200 people, which is literally a third of the town's population. Then there was the stamp of approval that she gave to the upgrades at the village's local movie theatre. Formerly known as Oxted's Everyman Cinema, Judi has been frequenting this spot to catch her favourite films for as long as she's lived here. And when the theatre finally underwent some much-needed renovations, she was there as a special guest at the venue's reopening, where she also received a special plaque honouring her commitment to the arts in the town. While attending the ceremony, Judi would reminisce over her experiences in the theatre with the Surrey media, telling them, It's blown me away, it's got a very inclusive atmosphere to it and it still feels very homey like it did 30 years ago. I remember the first time I came here, there was a woman who welcomed you as you walked in and gave you your ticket and she was the same person who undid the curtains and at the end asked everyone if they had a nice time. And we really did because she was so welcoming. You could come here and see a terrible film but still have a great evening because it's just so nice. Last but certainly not least, Judi has also starred in and lent her support to a BBC documentary that was shot in the village's woodlands in 2017. This hour-long film was shot on some of the Surrey Wildlife Trust's most beautiful nature reserves, including the ancient woodland located at Naur Wood, as well as Norbury Park. As a patron of Surrey Wildlife Trust and a partner to the man who runs it, Judi has always expressed an interest in nature, and she shares that passion with those closest to her. But as perfect as Judi's relationship with the Outwood community sounds, there is one downside to living her life in such a remote place, and that's what we'll talk about next. As busy as Judi has managed to keep herself throughout her entire life, there's simply no way of outrunning the hands of time, and late last year, Judi almost found herself facing her own mortality. This 87-year-old actress is suffering from the deteriorating eye condition known as macular degeneration, and it's something that has come to affect her life in a series of different ways. This issue first cropped up for her in the early part of the last decade, and since then, things have only gotten worse. Today, Judi struggles to read scripts, and she usually has her daughter or a friend come by to visit and read to her whatever project she's been sent by her agent. She even struggles to watch films these days and generally has a friend tag along to narrate what's happening, much like she has someone read her script. But as awful as it sounds, it pales in comparison to a recent experience she had in her own home. While walking through the halls, Judi didn't happen to notice that one of her carpets was bunched up as she walked across it. She tripped and fell while she was totally alone in her home with no one around to help. Well maybe I should rephrase that. She does happen to have a pet parrot who knew something was wrong, and reportedly kept asking her what are you doing? What are you doing? Unfortunately, the parrot wasn't intelligent enough to pick up the phone and call somebody. With her partner David living 4 miles away, Judi ultimately had to rely on herself to do something about her situation, and she says after 30 minutes of lying on the floor, she finally regained enough strength to pull herself back up. When asked by the Surrey press if she could've just used a panic button to alert someone for help, Judi admitted that she doesn't own one and told them, It's just something you have to live with. But you want to be independent and it's very, very difficult." Well, let's hope that Judi doesn't have to experience anything like that again, and can continue her peaceful life in her longtime village in Surrey. Alright everyone, that's gonna bring this Judi Dench house tour to an end. Thanks for watching, and please be sure to let us know what you thought about her long time home, and bond with the community down in the comments down below. Hit that subscribe button if you haven't, follow me on Instagram if you wanna chat, and I'll catch you all in another one. Bye!