The Cotswolds, a famed stretch of English countryside known for its rolling hills, picturesque villages and posh private schools, is drawing a growing number of American buyers.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, have recently put the region in the spotlight with their return to the U.K. The couple have settled their two children Archie and Lilibet into school and are currently set up around the idyllic Cotswolds region, according to people familiar with the matter. In recent weeks, Meghan has posted Instagram videos of the family in the English countryside and has been spotted at a pub in the Cotswolds' Burford and at the nearby private club Soho Farmhouse. A representative for the couple declined to provide specifics.

The English country-house market has flagged since the pandemic surge. Still, buying agent Harry Gladwin, head of the Cotswolds at the Buying Solution, said he has seen a sharp uptick in the number of Americans looking for second homes in the Cotswolds, due in part to Hollywood celebrities buying homes and vacationing in the area. That includes Ellen DeGeneres, who, like Harry and Meghan, relocated from Montecito, Calif.

"I would say there has been a 25% increase in U.S. buyers since last summer," Gladwin said. "The Cotswolds is now an international brand."

The Cotswolds-and increasingly, the up-and-coming Notswolds-are attractive to buyers for their scenery and proximity to London. The landscape of the landlocked area is a world away from oceanfront Montecito, where the median sale price was $7 million over the last three months, according to Redfin. And with thousands of square miles, it contains a variety of different villages, price points and housing types, from palaces to modern, boxy flats.

Read on for a look at three key housing markets in the region.

The 'Hollywood' Cotswolds

County: Oxfordshire, northern Gloucestershire

2026 average sale price: $599,416

Coveted villages: Kingham, Churchill, Swinbrook

The north Cotswolds-roughly the area between Stow-on-the-Wold, Burford, and Woodstock-is "ultra exclusive, sought-after, and definitely the most glamorous part of the Cotswolds," said buying agent Harry Gladwin of the Buying Solution.

About 80 miles from London, this area is sometimes referred to as "the golden triangle." More recently it has been described as the Hollywood Cotswolds, thanks to its appeal to A-list celebrities like the Beckham family, who own an estate near the village of Great Tew. DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi paid about $20 million for a farm in the area in 2024 before moving to a larger estate nearby. Nearby, the broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson's attempts to run a 1,000-acre farm near the village of Chadlington are the subject of the Amazon Prime Video series "Clarkson's Farm." Supermodel Kate Moss has owned a home in the area since 2004, and Alex James, bass player with the band Blur, owns a farm near Kingham.

Hangouts include private member's clubs like Soho Farmhouse and smart gastropubs like the Bull in Burford. There are sought-after private schools in the villages, such as Kitebrook Preparatory School, and in the adjacent university city of Oxford.

In his memoir, "Spare," Prince Harry wrote about renting a farmhouse in the Great Tew Estate in 2018 while the couple's then-home, Frogmore Cottage, was undergoing renovations.

But there are some downsides to the Hollywood Cotswolds. Many of the rural roads are single-lane and traffic can be busy, while the roads into Oxford are jammed at rush hour, said Gladwin.

According to estate agent Hamptons, average sale prices in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds increased by 20% between 2016 and 2026. They spiked around the pandemic, peaking at about $618,000 in 2023, and have fallen about 3% since then.

At the top end of the market, Gladwin said, some homes have sold for more than $100 million. A well-renovated historic country house with some land close to a popular village would likely cost between $9.4 million and $16 million, Gladwin said. In Montecito, the Sussexes paid $14.65 million for a home in 2020.

Gladwin said many locals have urban roots and attitudes, and famous residents tend to be left in peace. "If you go to a pub like the Chequers in Churchill or one of the private member's clubs, there will often be well-known people there," he said. "I have never seen them being bothered or pestered."

Still, there is a privacy issue in the U.K. countryside which the Sussexes would need to consider when buying a house. Legally protected public footpaths run past-and sometimes even through-private land, allowing walkers the right to roam right up to some country homes. "The Cotswolds is littered with public footpaths, which could be a real concern to the Sussexes," said Lindsay Cuthill, founder of the Blue Book Agency.

The 'Royal-Friendly' Cotswolds

County: Gloucestershire

2026 average sale price: $483,770

Coveted neighborhoods: Villages near Tetbury and Cirencester

King Charles's longtime country home-Highgrove House-is located in Gloucestershire, close to the town of Tetbury, while Princess Anne and her family live on nearby Gatcombe Park estate.

A dash of celebrity sparkle is added by Liam Gallagher, the Oasis frontman, who owns a property in the village of Coates. And artist Damien Hirst owns the gothic-style Toddington Manor, which is close to the border of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

This area is more relaxed than the buzzy, starry north Cotswolds, said Cuthill. "It has less-fancy pubs, and you won't find six different types of salt at the local deli," he said. "It is more about dinner parties than private member's clubs, and there is a lot of interest in country sports-hunting and fishing.

Cuthill said he has seen a "distinct shift" in buyers refining their property search from Oxfordshire to Gloucestershire over the past couple of years. "There are plenty of people who do not like how busy, and somehow urban, the north Cotswolds has become," he said. "They want a quieter pace of life and not to be stuck in a massive keeping-up-with-the-Joneses thing."

Gloucester is less expensive than Oxfordshire but has held its value better, according to Hamptons. Between 2020 and 2023 sale prices jumped almost 20 percent, to about $478,000, and have inched up about 1% since then.

At the prime end of the market, Cuthill said, a budget of roughly $13.5 million would buy a good-quality country house with land. Despite the broader slowdown in price growth, "really good properties do still attract a level of competition," he said.

The 'Notswolds'

County: Northamptonshire

2026 average sale price: $402,677

Coveted neighborhoods: Everdon, Farthingstone, and Blakesley

Immediately northeast of the Cotswolds, Northamptonshire is the home county of Princess Diana, who spent her teenage years at Althorp House, seat of the Spencer family for more than 500 years. It is currently owned by Earl Spencer, Diana's younger brother.

Some 70 miles from London, Northamptonshire has the same rolling countryside and beautiful villages as the Cotswolds, but at a lower pricepoint, said Ian Denton, managing partner at Jackson-Stops estate agents. "A lot of our buyers start off looking in the Cotswolds, realize how competitive the property market is, and widen their search area to include Northamptonshire where they realize how much better value for money they get," he said. Over the past decade, Northamptonshire has seen price growth of 42%, according to Hamptons, and its sale prices have held steady in the past year.

At the high end, a historic Northamptonshire country house in good condition and with some land would be around $4 million to $5 million, Denton said, but the average prime price for a smart country home would be closer to $2 million.

Northamptonshire does have its share of boldfaced names, including former Spice Girl Geri Horner and her husband, the former Red Bull Formula One team's boss Christian Horner, who live in a 15th century house close to the village of Marston St Lawrence. Supermodel Claudia Schiffer and her English film-director husband, Matthew Vaughn, own a home near the village of Culworth.

Locals enjoy a peaceful, sporty lifestyle, playing golf, watching horse racing at the local track, and attending Formula One racing, Denton said. "Famous people fly under the radar here," he said.

-Additional reporting by Katherine Clarke