A good grounding

Berkshire has some of the best homes in the land, so perhaps it is no coincidence that the nation’s favourite property guru went to school in Wokingham

- Bernard Bale

“I think that being born in such a great county must have been a great help,” says Sarah Beeny about her successful career. “It must have also helped that my dad was an architect, so I think I was introduced to different aspects of property and homes at quite an early age.

“My upbringing was a little unusual. I have an older brother, Diccon, with whom I get along well and I was fascinated by my dad’s work because he was also very clever at making furniture for dolls’ houses. My mum was just brilliant at being Mum. We lived in two converted cottages on the edge of the Duke of Wellington’s famous estate, Stratfield Saye, which is on the Hampshire and Berkshire border. Some of the War Horse film was shot there and the Duke of Wellington’s own horse, Copenhagen, is buried there. We had a nine-acre plot with room to play and breathe. We kept sheep and chickens plus a few ducks. We were just a short distance from Reading, which has always had everything you could wish for.”