Wildfires Force George and Amal Clooney to Evacuate Their Home in France

Dow Jones
Aug 03

Thousands are being evacuated in southeastern France.

Amal Clooney and George Clooney attend an event at Royal Albert Hall in London, May 11, 2026.

Actor George Clooney and wife Amal were forced to evacuate their home in France due to the ongoing wildfires breaking out across Europe.

George, 65, Amal, 48, and their 9-year-old twins, Alexander and Ella, live in the town of Brignoles in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. The family's farmhouse is located in one of the many regions where wildfires are expanding across France, Spain, Italy, and Greece.

A Canadair aircraft drops water on a wildfire burning in a forested area near Brignoles, France, the town where the Clooneys live, July 29, 2026.

The family announced their evacuation in a letter last week to the mayor of Brignoles.

"Dear Didier, At this point we have no idea whether our beautiful home makes it through this terrible moment," the letter read.

"As we evacuate Brignoles we want to emphasise 2 things: first we hope you and the people of our city are safe and second that Amal and I are committed to making sure that whatever happens to our village, we are part of this community and we'll be part of making it whole," the letter added. "We love Brignoles and our friends who live there."

According to the Associated Press, the fires in France are currently four times the size of Paris as of Friday.

About 3,000 other people have been evacuated from the region where the Clooneys live, and an additional 224,000 people have vacated the Gironde region of France, CNN reports.

Three firefighters have been killed by the fires, according to Reuters.

Smoke rises from a wildfire in Correns, southeastern France, on July 31, 2026, as the fire restarted in the region.

A resident stands before his home which was destroyed by fire in the village of Le Porge, southwestern France on July 31, 2026.

George and Amal were both granted French citizenship in 2025, just a few months after the couple revealed that they had relocated to France to give the children a more normal lifestyle.

While the couple is typically very private about their personal lives, George did open up in an October 2025 Esquire interview and shared that he hoped relocating to Europe would enable his children to escape the trappings of their parents' fame.

"A good portion of my life growing up was on a farm, and as a kid, I hated the whole idea of it," George said. "But now, for them, it's like-they're not on their iPads, you know? They have dinner with grown-ups and have to take their dishes in. They have a much better life.

"I was worried about raising our kids in L.A., in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life," the actor added.

George then raised his concerns about how his Hollywood profile has shone on his children and how that might negatively affect them, noting that he desired for the twins to be able to enjoy a laid-back lifestyle away from constant photographers and other industry stereotypes.

"France-they kind of don't give a s-t about fame. I don't want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don't want them being compared to somebody else's famous kids," George explained.

He also stated that he is thankful for the large age gap between him and his children-as it means they won't have to constantly have their own careers being compared to their father's.

"The only thing I feel lucky about is that I'm so much older, that the idea that my son would be compared to me is pretty unlikely, because by the time he actually will have done anything, I'm gonna be gumming my bread," the actor said.

For George, his children must be able to be self-sufficient, endlessly encouraging them to watch him fix things around the house.

"It's important to me that they can survive," George explained.

In another interview with local radio network RTL in December 2025, the star doubled down on his praise of moving to the countryside. He revealed that he and his family have enjoyed the significant amount of privacy they have received since the move.

"Here, they don't take photos of kids. There aren't any paparazzi hidden at the school gates. That's No. 1 for us," George said.

Since the move, George has been working hard to fit himself into the local community by learning French on the language app Duolingo. He admitted in 2024 that his grasp on the dialect was "horrible."

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However, months before the move, in February 2025, George revealed to The New York Times that he never imagined that the family's primary residence would be a farmhouse.

"Growing up in Kentucky, all I wanted to do was get away from a farm, get away from that life," George explained. "Now I find myself back in that life. I drive a tractor and all those things. It's the best chance at a normal life."

Meanwhile, his wife, Amal, told Glamour in July 2025 how the family maintains their safety and security by implementing a strict phone ban inside her home.

"Creating private moments and spaces is becoming increasingly difficult," Amal admitted. "But that's also why we entertain a lot at home. I now have a phone basket that I use to take everyone's phones away!"

"It's important to get that balance where you have time alone with your family and with your friends, where people feel like you can have a safe and frank exchange," she added.

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Nonetheless, the human rights advocate finds plenty of "joy" in her home life.

"The people I love-my husband, our children, our friends-filling our house with people we love, that's the greatest joy in my life and what gives me balance," Amal said.

The Clooneys purchased the sprawling $8.3 million farmhouse in France in 2021.

George also owns an estate in England, a villa in Italy on Lake Como, and a property located next to his family in Kentucky.

George Clooney's house, Villa Oleandra, situated on Lake Como's south-western shores.

"We also have a house in the United States, but our happiest place is on this farm where the kids can have fun," George told RTL.

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The couple purchased the historical abode in Sonning Eye, England, in 2014 for a reported $14 million, just a few days before the two tied the knot.

After the couple's honeymoon, they underwent an alleged 18-month renovation process to convert the estate into their dream home, where they raised their children for the first eight years of their lives.

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George reportedly purchased two adjacent villas in Lake Como in the early 2000s.

The properties are right on the water and have been frequented by several high-profile guests over the years, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Jennifer Aniston, and former President Barack Obama.

This story originally ran on Realtor.com.

 

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