Any motorist or dog-walker traversing the narrow lanes around Denise Coates’ home in Cheshire would most likely stray within range of one of the many CCTV cameras that jut out from the surrounding foliage. These towering hedgerows, interrupted by sturdy security fences, hide not a military base or a top secret research facility but a family home, albeit one of immense proportions.
The 21-hectare (52-acre) estate is large enough to accommodate landing space for the helicopters that neighbours have seen ferrying people in and out. Inside the gates, there is a lake, boathouse, tennis courts, horse stables and a treehouse with a zip wire, according to local planning applications and architectural plans.
