Wayne and Coleen Rooney are finally set to move into their £20 million mansion ending four troubled years of delays and planning rows – and they celebrated with a date night.
The couple are on a luxury mini break to Scotland, celebrating the end of the football season – with Wayne leading Derby County to narrowly avoid relegation – and the ease of lockdown restrictions with a luxurious stay at the five-star hotel Gleneagles in Scotland.
The couple took time off from their family time with their kids for a romantic meal for at the hotel’s two Michelin star Andrew Fairlie restaurant – with Coleen, 35, positing pictures of their grown up night out on her Instagram.
Finally finished: Wayne and Coleen Rooney are finally set to move into their £20 million mansion ending four troubled years of delays and planning rows – and they celebrated with a date night
MailOnline can reveal that the Rooneys had another special reason to celebrate as the saga of their dream home build is all but over and they are soon to finally move in, more than a year after scheduled.
The former England captain, wife Coleen and four sons have been relieved to be able to wave off all but one of the diggers which became a familiar sight around the mansion.
The dozens of builders, developers and designers have upped and left with sources stressing only ‘a few minor tweaks’ need to be carried out before the Rooney’s move into the dream home.
‘Even the road leading to the house has been swept and dusted off. The water and power are on and it is ready’ said a source.
Dinner date: The couple are on a luxury mini break to Scotland, celebrating the end of the football season – with Wayne leading Derby County to narrowly avoid relegation – and the ease of lockdown restrictions with a luxurious stay at the five-star hotel Gleneagles in Scotland
When the removal vans arrive, possibly during their kids’ school half-term break, the Rooneys will be able to enjoy the full luxury of the multi-million pound development of the home which they bought in 2017 for £4 million.
They are expected to move in shortly after their return from Scotland.
But they will have to contend with increased noise levels and groups of walkers who can ogle the mansion from a public footpath close-by.
Their home – dubbed the ‘Morrisons Mansion’ – due to its similarity to the supermarket chain, is on the flightpath to Manchester Airport with planes flying directly over it, as revealed by MailOnline.
One local resident at Knutsford, Cheshire, said: ‘It has been fairly quite in the skies above their home because of the pandemic and lesser planes flying about.
Stunning: MailOnline can reveal that the Rooneys had another special reason to celebrate as the saga of their dream home build is all but over and they are soon to finally move in, more than a year after scheduled
‘But I think they are going to be at their wits end when the holiday season arrives and if things are back to normal. The planes are in swarms each hour usually.
‘They have put security cameras up around their border, but there are areas when you can get very close from public land. There is little they will be able to do about it.
‘But I wish them well as do most of us around here. They are a young family just like any other moving into a new home.’
Back then: In October Wayne and Coleen’s dreams of spending Christmas in their mansion (pictured) were dashed after a series of new set-backs on their troubled building project that has been dragging on for four years
Plans: The six-bedroom mega mansion – where building began in 2017 – has been plagued by delays, particularly at the start of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown when building ground to a halt entirely when deliveries of building materials stopped
Work ground to a halt for several weeks during lockdown as building materials deliveries stopped during the pandemic.
They had originally pencilled in January of 2020 as their moving in date.
But with the pandemic and other issues that was delayed until May. Since the pandemic hit a more realistic date was pencilled in for January 2021 – at the earliest but June is now pencilled in.
Coleen had requested several changes to the original plans with designers about the interior and fittings and she and her husband made regular visits for updates and remained patient, said a source.
Then efforts to start landscaping the grounds around the sprawling three-storey house also hit problems from birds, so they installed an airport-style automatic ‘bird-scarer’ to prevent grass seeds from being eaten.
Expense: As well as all the building work, the Rooneys had been forced to install a noisy, gas-powered ‘bird-scarer’ to stop crows from pecking at grass seeds that have been laid on lawns at the 40-acre site
The blasts from the gas-powered scarer every 20 minutes annoyed the well-heeled neighbours in the Cheshire countryside, already fed up with the drawn-out construction work.
Another bugbear for local residents was the state-of-the art security precautions around the property.
Several objected to the erection of a 9ft tall security fence ringing the estate, branding it an eyesore which would ‘urbanise’ the rural area. The planners sided with the Rooneys.
But the couple will not have much longer to wait to enjoy the six-bedroom house which is set in its own secluded spot behind a lake and in 40 acres of countryside
Rooney has installed a snooker room, a home cinema, indoor swimming pool, an underground spa, wine cellar, a stable area with space for 14 horses, and, a football pitch for sons Kai, Klay, Kit and Cass.
Happy families: Wayne shares sons Kai, 11, Klay, seven, Kit, five and Cass, three, with Coleen (pictured in May)