Actress Cate Blanchett lives in a restored English mansion that was once abandoned and turned into a squat full of trash, broken furniture and even pentagrams used in Wiccan rituals, reports HELLO! magazine.

Famous actress Cate Blanchett, known from the movie Black Bag, shares her life with her husband, playwright Andrew Upton, and their four children, Dashiell (23), Roman (20), Ignatius (17) and Edith (10). The family settled in England, in a mansion that not only impressed with its architecture but also with its dark past.

The property, called Highwell House, is located near the town of Crowborough in East Sussex, an area known for its famous residents such as Kate Winslet and Heather Mills, the ex-wife of Paul McCartney. Built in 1890, the home sprawls across 13 acres and includes an 839-square-foot main house, seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a game room, about a dozen antique fireplaces and a 12-foot-tall living room adorned with crystal chandeliers.

According to Harper's Bazaar, after Blanchett acquired the property, she obtained a building permit for a new structure that included an art studio and meditation room. Her intention was to also use the space to store some of her art collection.

Despite its current splendour, the property had a turbulent history. According to Daily Mail, between its beginnings as a Victorian residence and its restoration into a luxury home, Highwell House fell into extreme disrepair. The building became a squat with broken windows, construction debris, broken furniture and signs of drug use. The walls were covered in graffiti, including pentagrams, symbols often used in Wiccan rituals, and the wallpaper was torn.

Before Kate and Andrew, the property had been owned by the Walford family, but remained abandoned for about a decade. Locals tell the media that in those years the property was frequented by drug addicts and thieves who used the old barn to share their loot.

Today, however, the mansion shines once again. Blanchett's family has managed to breathe new life into it and turn Highwell House into not just a home, but a symbol of possible rebirth - even for the most forgotten and neglected places of time. | BGNES