Cecil Beaton at Home: Ashcombe and Reddish, curated by Andrew Ginger, director of the Cecil Beaton Fabrics Collection, was shown at Salisbury Museum from May to September 2014. Recent years Shortly before Borley's death, the house was sold in a private sale to David and Toni Parkes, who set about restoring the house. They were friends of the director of the Dovecote Press, which republished Beaton's book on Ashcombe on its fiftieth anniversary in 1999, and so a launch party was held at the house. When the house came up for sale in 2001, the first time it had been on the open market since just after World War I, there was a great deal of interest. Madonna and Guy Ritchie were the successful purchasers, after they were told by Hugo Vickers, Beaton's biographer, of its being up for sale. Like Beaton, the couple were struck by their first encounter with the house: "We just fell in love with it," Madonna explains. "In the summertime it's the most beautiful place in the world." The memory of their day at Ashcombe "just stayed with us, haunted us for a really long time," she remembers. Subsequent building work at the house included a large extension, roof alterations and conversion; and in 2008 a planning application for a swimming pool at the house was approved. In May 2008 it was reported that the couple were considering selling the house; in October 2008 with the news of the couple's impending divorce it was stated that Ritchie would receive the estate as part of the divorce settlement. On 3 March 2009, planning permission was granted to Ritchie by Salisbury District Council for the creation of a sporting lake on the estate, to be situated on land to the northwest of Lower Ashgrove Farm. The grounds of the house are noted for their re-established wildlife, including fallow deer. The grounds are also noted as one of the top game bird shooting venues in the country: The Field magazine voted it one of the UK's ten top venues for pheasant shooting. Public rights of way run through the grounds, and are open to the public all year round. The grounds contain a 17th-century Quaker burial ground which was still in use in 2004. Further reading Beaton, Cecil, 1949, Ashcombe: The Story of a Fifteen-Year Lease, published by B.T. Batsford. Ginger, Andrew, 2016, Cecil Beaton at Home: An