This week, showbiz headlines have blown up: is Ed Sheeran moving to the US? “I’m just about to move to America,” he told the 2 Johnnies Podcast earlier this week. “I’m going on tour there for a while, so I have a family, so I can’t dip in and out, we’re going and settling there.”
But yesterday, amidst speculation about where Sheeran might go and what might become of Sheeranville, his Suffolk estate, the singer wrote on social media: “I’m not moving, I’m going on tour with my family and relocating to the continent I’m touring on, don’t wanna commute from London to San Diego”.
He added: “Also, this isn’t a tax thing, it’s USA not UAE. I’ll always pay tax in [the] UK coz that’s where I live.”
It looks like Sheeran is set on staying in the UK — for now. While his US tour dates have not yet been announced, his latest album, Play, is out on Friday, with an accompanying tour to follow. So where might he choose to stay in San Diego?
According to Joy Aumann, San Diego-based realtor and founder of Luxury SoCal Realty, Sheeran would be likely to head to areas like the upmarket seaside neighbourhood of La Jolla, home to Alicia Keys, who owns an architect-designed cliffside mansion; and billionaire Darwin Deason, whose sprawling compound was listed for $108 million (£78m) last year.
Equally, says Aumann, Sheeran and his family might choose to search for privacy in wealthy enclaves like Rancho Santa Fe and Fairbanks Ranch, which have tennis courts and “equestrian-style” grounds. Del Mar, where Bill and Melinda Gates bought a beach house in 2020, is popular for its clifftop and oceanfront properties, as well as access to California’s “coastal corridor”.
“Turnkey, fully furnished, five or eight bedrooms, separate guest houses, gyms, theatres and great privacy are the features that touring families in the level of Ed Sheeran seek in San Diego. Entry gates, a well-kept landscape and parking space are important,” says Aumann.
“It is competitive to secure such a property…Lets of between six to 12 months for average budgets are around $35,000 to $150,000 a month, with oceanfront compounds costing more.”
Brooklyn Bridge and Pearl Street as seen from Brooklyn Heights Promenade
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This is not Sheeran’s first prolonged stay in the US. In 2013, he moved to a house outside Nashville —or “Music City”— to escape from the paparazzi and write music. The house, in Hendersonville, was set on a lake, and appeared to have given the singer the creative space he needed.
In September that year, he told Rolling Stone: “I’ve demoed 70 songs…I’m hoping to release three [albums] in three years.” His albums Multiply, 5 and Divide duly followed.
Sheeran’s love for Nashville has endured long after returning to the UK. He told the Call Her Daddy podcast this April: “Nashville is my favourite city in the States, and it’s always been my end goal to move to Nashville and transition to country.”
Although Sheeran insists that his relocation across the pond will be temporary, it wouldn’t be the first time a rental has become permanent. In May this year, he and his wife, Cherry Seaborn, bought an apartment in Brooklyn for almost $12 million (£8.9m) after renting another property in the same development two years earlier for a record $36,000 (£27,000) per month, according to The Real Deal.
Sheeran had rented in New York during a copyright infringement case, where he was accused of using elements of Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On in his Grammy Award-winning song, Thinking Out Loud. After a two-week-long trial, Sheeran was found not liable.
Sheeran’s new acquisition in Brooklyn Heights reportedly spans some 3,400 square feet, with four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a terrace. It also benefits from the building’s other amenities, like a concierge, gym, swimming pool and children’s playroom.
According to the New York Times, Brooklyn Heights is also home to the likes of Matt Damon, Amy Schumer, John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. Kendrick Lamar, meanwhile, reportedly bought a property in the same development for $8.6 million (£6.3m) in 2023.
Ed Sheeran’s other homes
Of his vast property portfolio, Sheeran’s most famous —and most controversial— home is his Suffolk estate, located close to Framlingham, where he grew up.
The 16-acre complex, nicknamed “Sheeranville”, comprises a main house, Wynneys Hall, alongside three adjacent properties. There’s a recording studio, fruit orchard, treehouse, kitchen garden, greenhouse, indoor swimming pool, fitness complex and pub called the Lancaster Lock, which is named after his wife.
But the construction of the estate has not been without controversy. Despite initially claiming that his £500,000 heart-shaped pond would not be used for swimming, for example, Sheeran later successfully applied for permission to use it for recreational uses, to the frustration of some of his neighbours. Last year, when he posted a picture of him jumping into the pond, locals accused Sheeran of “taking the mick”.
Sheeran’s neighbours have also complained that his hedges and security fences have compromised their countryside views. And the singer was also forced to remove a Romany caravan which he had converted into a sauna because it did not have planning consent.
One of Sheeran’s other key assets is his Notting Hill home, which he bought in 2019 for £19.8 million. It was used as a filming location for his song, Put It All On Me, and is reported to have a cinema, swimming pool and bar. Sheeran also owns a wine bar, Bertie Blossoms, on nearby Portobello Road.
In total, Sheeran owns some 27 London homes, including in Holland Park and Covent Garden. He has a villa in Umbria with a vineyard and a property with a recording studio in Dungeness, Kent, which is built from a former railway carriage.