The former talk show host, 68, is hoping to make Kitesbridge Farm, near Burford, not far from the Wiltshire border, a long-term home with her partner, Portia De Rossi.
The couple purchased the 43-acre property in 2024 but moved out after less than a month in the hope of finding somewhere more suitable to indulge in Portia’s passion for horses.
However, they are now hoping to stay if their new application for a riding arena is approved – a battle they have not yet won.
Ellen DeGeneres has submitted plans for horse stables to stay ‘long term’ at her Cotswolds home. (Image: Tom Wren / SWNS)
Their first proposal was refused by West Oxfordshire District Council, which said: “The proposed riding arena, by reason of its scale, siting and associated engineering operations, would constitute an intrusive and incongruous form of development within the open countryside and the Cotswolds National Landscape.”
Ms DeGeneres has since reduced the size of the arena and changed its location in hopes of addressing those concerns.
Planning documents say: “There was no objection in principle to the provision of an all-weather riding arena and during the processing of the application useful discussions were had with officers concerning alternative locations for the facility.
“The proposed all-weather riding arena has been reduced in scale and re-located since the previous submission.
“The arena is now proposed to measure 32 metres long by 20 metres wide. It is proposed to be located further to the east and slightly south, on lower ground, so it does not project outside the historic grouping of buildings and less engineering is required.
“It would be surfaced in a sand / silica material and would have a simple post and rail fence surrounding it.”
The couple have already been granted planning permission for a new stable.
A spokesman for Ms DeGeneres said: “The applicant’s horses are on site in temporary accommodation formed in the garaging in an existing barn pending the determination of the stables application.
“In order to provide a suitable flat all-weather arena for exercising the horses this application has been made.
“The surrounding land does have some flat areas where the horses can be exercised in summer months – but it is also adjacent to the River Windrush, so for the winter and other wet times the opportunities for exercise are more limited.
“The choices then are daily movements to and from the site to exercise elsewhere – or to provide a modest facility on site.”
Photographs included in the application show flooding from April 2023 and “show how the lower lying fields in the vicinity of the site do not provide suitable opportunities for exercising horses at certain times of the year.”
The couple bought the property for £15 million in 2024 and have spent a reported £7.5 million on external and internal renovations.