# Ray Mill House
**Ray Mill House** is a 19th-century country house at Reybridge, a hamlet near the village of Lacock in [Wiltshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/wiltshire), England, privately owned by [Queen Camilla](https://www.edgepedia.org/queen-camilla) for nearly three decades before its reported transfer to her family in 2026.[1](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1198630) • [2](https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/queen-camillas-personal-house-has-quietly-changed-hands-216917/) The Grade II listed building sits on the left bank of the River Avon north of Lacock, beyond Reybridge, and is not part of the official royal estate.[1](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1198630) • [3](https://www.tatler.com/article/glimpse-the-queens-private-country-estate)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | Reybridge, parish of Lacock, Wiltshire; National Grid Reference ST 92187 69382[1](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1198630) |
| Built | Around 1860, ashlar with a low-pitched deep-eaved slate roof[1](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1198630) |
| Designation | Grade II listed building, List Entry Number 1198630, first listed 7 January 1987 under the name "Rey Mill House"[1](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1198630) |
| Style | Two-storey asymmetric Italianate, with gables treated as open pediments, painted bracketed eaves and paired angle pilasters[1](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1198630) |
| Camilla's purchase | A reported £850,000 after her divorce from Andrew Parker Bowles; sources date it to 1995[3](https://www.tatler.com/article/glimpse-the-queens-private-country-estate) or 1996[2](https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/queen-camillas-personal-house-has-quietly-changed-hands-216917/) |
| Grounds | 12 acres of gardens, an outdoor swimming pool, a terrace and stables for horses[3](https://www.tatler.com/article/glimpse-the-queens-private-country-estate) |
| Neighbouring purchase | King Charles bought the adjacent Old Mill for a reported £3 million with private funds, reported in March 2025[4](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wiltshire-clayton-mail-on-sunday-avon-david-jones-b2711672.html) |
| Ownership transfer (2026) | Registered to Harry Lopes and financier Jake Irwin, understood to be acting for Camilla's children, Laura Lopes and Tom Parker Bowles[2](https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/queen-camillas-personal-house-has-quietly-changed-hands-216917/) |
## Architecture and listing
The [Historic England](https://www.edgepedia.org/historic-england) list entry, dated 7 January 1987, describes a country house of about 1860 in ashlar with a low-pitched, deep-eaved slate roof and panelled ashlar stacks, built in an asymmetric Italianate style with gables treated as open pediments.[1](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1198630) The north and south sides and west end share similar gables with tripartite ground-floor windows, a broad band supporting paired angle pilasters, tripartite first-floor windows and a pediment lunette. On the north front, a gable projects beside a two-storey two-window range of sashes and a two-storey porch with a 20th-century neo-Georgian hood; the east end service range was altered on its south side in the neo-Georgian style.[1](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1198630)
The listing covers the structure and anything fixed to it, together with objects and structures within the curtilage that have formed part of the land since before 1 July 1948.[1](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1198630)
## Camilla's ownership
Camilla Parker Bowles bought the house after divorcing [Andrew Parker Bowles](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrew-parker-bowles). [The Tatler](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-tatler) account dates the purchase to 1995, for a reported £850,000,[3](https://www.tatler.com/article/glimpse-the-queens-private-country-estate) while Royal Central and Geo News give 1996 for the same reported sum.[2](https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/queen-camillas-personal-house-has-quietly-changed-hands-216917/) • [5](https://www.geo.tv/latest/653453-queen-camilla-passes-on-her-best-therapy-as-charles-expands-neighbourhood) She retained the house after moving into [Clarence House](https://www.edgepedia.org/clarence-house) with Charles, then Prince of Wales, in 2003, keeping it as a personal country retreat; she is reported to have lived there until 2005, when the couple married.[3](https://www.tatler.com/article/glimpse-the-queens-private-country-estate)
The property has hosted family milestones: her daughter Laura's wedding reception was held there in 2006.[6](https://www.aol.com/news/queen-camilla-quietly-offloads-850-143501703.html) In 2009 Wiltshire Council granted listed building consent to "HRH Camilla Duchess of Cornwall" for internal and external alterations and the erection of a first-floor extension, the council judging that the alterations would preserve the building's architectural and historic interest under section 16(2) of the [Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990](https://www.edgepedia.org/planning-listed-buildings-and-conservation-areas-act-1990).[7](https://services.wiltshire.gov.uk/northplanning-decisionnotices/2009%2BApplications/09.00318.pdf)
Lady Lansdowne, the godmother of Camilla's daughter, told [The Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-times) that the Queen most values discretion at Ray Mill, where she walks her two rescue Jack Russells, Beth and Bluebell, and where her five grandchildren spend time with her.[3](https://www.tatler.com/article/glimpse-the-queens-private-country-estate) At the Sandringham Flower Show in 2025 Camilla described gardening at the house as "the best therapy in the world".[2](https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/queen-camillas-personal-house-has-quietly-changed-hands-216917/) She has also applied to Wiltshire Council for permission to remove a cypress tree from the grounds.[5](https://www.geo.tv/latest/653453-queen-camilla-passes-on-her-best-therapy-as-charles-expands-neighbourhood)
The house sits about a 15-minute drive from Highgrove, King Charles's country estate in [Gloucestershire](https://www.edgepedia.org/gloucestershire), and accounts of the couple's routine describe Charles spending weekends at Highgrove while Camilla spends time at Ray Mill House.[3](https://www.tatler.com/article/glimpse-the-queens-private-country-estate) On 15 September 2022, the day after Queen Elizabeth II's death, the then Queen Consort spent the day at Ray Mill House.[8](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9372/CBP-9372.pdf)
## Neighbouring property and reported transfer
In March 2025 The Independent reported, based on the Mail on Sunday, that the King had bought the neighboring Old Mill for a reported £3 million using private funds, amid concerns that the property, which shares a private lane with Ray Mill House and had been developed by its previous owner Phil Clayton, might be sold and turned into a wedding venue; a royal source described the purchase as both a sound financial investment and a way of maintaining Camilla's privacy without public funds.[4](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wiltshire-clayton-mail-on-sunday-avon-david-jones-b2711672.html)
In March 2026 Royal Central reported that Land Registry records showed Ray Mill House registered to Harry Lopes, Camilla's son-in-law, and the financier Jake Irwin, understood to be acting for her children [Laura Lopes](https://www.edgepedia.org/laura-lopes) and [Tom Parker Bowles](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-parker-bowles), ending nearly three decades of personal association with the property; the same report said suggestions that the house had been sold were dismissed by sources close to the Queen.[2](https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/queen-camillas-personal-house-has-quietly-changed-hands-216917/) No current valuation of the house is established by these reports; the £850,000 figure is a historic purchase price and the £3 million figure refers to the neighboring Old Mill, not to Ray Mill House.[9](https://www.documentarytube.com/blog/inside-ray-mill-house-queen-camillas-private-country-retreat/)
The house remains a private residence, not a public attraction.[9](https://www.documentarytube.com/blog/inside-ray-mill-house-queen-camillas-private-country-retreat/)
## References
1. [Rey Mill House, Lacock, List Entry 1198630, Historic England](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1198630)
2. [Queen Camilla's personal house has quietly changed hands, Royal Central, 4 March 2026](https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/queen-camillas-personal-house-has-quietly-changed-hands-216917/)
3. [Queen Camilla's Ray Mill House neighbour is poised to turn an outhouse into a holiday cottage, Tatler](https://www.tatler.com/article/glimpse-the-queens-private-country-estate)
4. [King buys £3 million home next to Camilla's country retreat amid privacy fears, The Independent, 9 March 2025](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wiltshire-clayton-mail-on-sunday-avon-david-jones-b2711672.html)
5. [Queen Camilla passes on her 'best therapy' as Charles expands neighbourhood, Geo News, 1 March 2026](https://www.geo.tv/latest/653453-queen-camilla-passes-on-her-best-therapy-as-charles-expands-neighbourhood)
6. [Queen Camilla quietly offloads £850,000 private property, AOL](https://www.aol.com/news/queen-camilla-quietly-offloads-850-143501703.html)
7. [Planning decision notice N/09/00318/LBC, Ray Mill House, Wiltshire Council, 2009](https://services.wiltshire.gov.uk/northplanning-decisionnotices/2009%2BApplications/09.00318.pdf)
8. [The death of a monarch, House of Commons Library briefing CBP-9372](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9372/CBP-9372.pdf)
9. [Inside Ray Mill House: What's Known About Camilla's Wiltshire Home, DocumentaryTube](https://www.documentarytube.com/blog/inside-ray-mill-house-queen-camillas-private-country-retreat/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Parks, protected areas, and geographic heritage sites › Geographic heritage districts and memorial sites › Historic districts and conservation areas › Historic districts outside the United States › Conservation areas of the United Kingdom*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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