Richard Curtis’ country house has been devastated by fire.
Richard Curtis’ country house has been devastated by fire
It is not known if the 65-year-old ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Notting Hill’ scriptwriter or his partner Emma Freud, 60, were at the property when the blaze took hold, but there were individuals seen in the house by locals.
No injuries have been reported in connection with the inferno, which took 14 fire crews to tackle.
They arrived just before 10pm on Sunday as the blaze ripped through the first and second floors of the 18th century property in the seaside village of Walberswick, Suffolk.
Firefighters ripped tiles from a section of the roof to dampen hotspots as the fire spread throughout the house, severely damaging its ancient structure.
Curtis has been with Freud more than 30 years but the couple never married and have their main home in Notting Hill, west London.
A villager told The Sun about the fire: “There were people at the house, but I don’t know whether Richard and Emma were there.
“We suddenly saw the fire engines arrive just before 10pm. There was tons of smoke. It was white smoke coming out of the roof and the sides, and crazy out of the chimney. The smoke was looking for a way out.
“The firefighters went inside with their breathing apparatus and opened all the windows. They had big hoses and were spraying the roof. I assume it was to cool it off.
“Later they put up hook ladders, and they went up those to take off tiles which made even more smoke come out.”
The semi-detached house in Walberswick has been in Freud’s family since the 1930s, and is believed to be where Curtis, best known for his romantic comedies including ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ and ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’, wrote some of his best known films.
He is also known for co-creating the ‘Comic Relief’ charity event with Sir Lenny Henry, 63, which has raised more than £1 billion, and for his TV writing credits on shows including ‘Blackadder’, ‘Mr Bean’ and the ‘Vicar of Dibley’.
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