These English villagers are not too chuffed with Kelsey Grammer’s plans to tear down a 200-year-old cottage.
The actor, known for his portrayal of the acerbic psychiatrist Fraiser Crane on the sitcoms “Cheers” and “Fraiser,” purchased a historic English cottage in 2023.
And now, Grammer’s new plans to level the property have sparked local ire, according to SWNS.
Grammer, 70, bought the home in 2023 with his wife, Kayte Wash, 46, to be closer to her family in Bristol.
The two-bedroom stone cottage boasts views of the Bristol Channel, across to the Welsh Coast. Past listing materials advertise the home as containing two to three bedrooms across 1,828 square feet, plus a 332-square-foot garage.
Planners at North Somerset Council recently gave Grammer the green light to demolish the cottage and build a four-bedroom modern home, with a game room and a gym.
Grammer’s plans to level the seaside home has attracted the ire of local residents and eight letters to the local council objecting to their decision.
“I think it’s such a shame because it’s a beautiful building with character, it’s old and it’s part of the community,” local resident Wendy Osment, 74,told SWNS.
“People have already taken a couple of the old cottages down.”
Osment told SWNS that her grandchildren cannot afford to live near her, as wealthy buyers have driven up property values.
Others have not minced words. One 76-year-old local speaking to The Telegraph called the planned demolition “a disgrace.”
The local Parish Council called the cottage a “historic icon,” along the coastal Down Road, SWNS reported.
Susan Smart, 76, who lives in a trailer park in Walton Bay, said the change wouldn’t bother her much, but there’s already been a lot of change in the community.
“I would like it to stay like that but unfortunately I think in this climate people have got the money, they buy houses and do things you’re only able to do if you’ve got the money to pay for it,” Smart told SWNS.
“I just hope it’s in keeping with the other houses that have been done,” Smart said. “Three properties have been knocked down over the past year.”
Grammer applied last year to build a large extension onto the home, but his bid was rejected. The expansion would have demolished 1980s-era extensions on three sides of the cottage and added a larger addition up to twice the size of the original building, plus a new basement.
That bid was denied by the council, but the actor evidently has no legal impediment to completely knocking down the home.
Grammer is yet to respond to the negative reception of his plans, but the council requires his demolition to begin on or before February 2030.