On the outside, Blenheim Park looks like a traditional Cotswold village, with the kind of honey- coloured cottages lived in by generations of farmers. But look inside the pretty houses and the illusion is shattered.

Each home is brand-new and the luxury options include the latest in sound-and-vision technology and hidden electronic gizmos.

Since it’s hard to imagine a muddy-booted farmer clomping across the pristine cream carpets, it is a fair guess that the Crest Nicholson development on the outskirts of Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire is aimed at people who wouldn’t know one end of a pitchfork from the other and who think pink patterned wellies from Harvey Nicks will go down a storm in the farmyard.

The rolling green hills of the Cotswolds, dotted with manor houses, chocolate-box villages and bustling market towns, have always been popular with upmarket buyers. First the area was colonised by the posh and jolly set: the Prince of Wales, Camilla Parker Bowles and young toffs learning how to run daddy’s estate at Cirencester Agricultural College. All good clean horsey fun.

Then the celebrities moved in: Elizabeth Hurley, Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes, Kate Moss and Stella McCartney. The pubs started to fill with clouds of cashmere and kitten heels. Hurley — who now describes herself as a “model and farmer” — arrived in a Bentley to open her local fête one rainy day, wearing a transparent white skirt and 3in gold sandals, while muddy Barbour-wearing locals looked on in disbelief.

Now every trendy young townie wants a weekend pad in Gloucestershire, and 60% of those on Knight Frank’s books in Cirencester are from London. They soon discover that the cheaper end of the market means £375,000 for an unmodernised three-bedroom cottage in the middle of nowhere. After a few nights shivering in damp, cold beds, many of them are willing to hang up their pink wellies and head back to the big smoke.

Blenheim Park, on the other hand, is for those who prefer to take a walk on the mild side when it comes to the country.

There are permutations on 18 house types, so the development looks as though it has grown organically, with walls of local limestone, warm brick or a pale rendered finish, and roofs of slate or Bradstone tiles. Traditional Cotswold green and cream paint has been used throughout the scheme for the window sashes and details.

Even the names are aimed at the snob in everybody: the three-bedroom Burghley, the four-bed Chatsworth, the five-bed Windsor. Prices range from £199,950 for a two-bed coach-house apartment to £231,950 for a three-bed semi to £454,950 for a five-bed house.

But it is behind the scenes that these homes will really appeal to the diamanté welly set. Few farmers listen to The Archers on a central music system, with speakers throughout the house and individual room controls. And how many farmers’ wives can lie in their Villeroy & Boch bathroom watching Emmerdale on “tilevision”, a screen set flush into the wall tiles just above the bath? Paul Barker, 31, works for a modern seating design company in London. He and his girlfriend, Karen Maher, were looking for an old characterful house in the Cotswolds. But then they discovered that a similar four-bed house at Blenheim Park was cheaper and could offer all the gadgets.

“We loved the way the house was in keeping with the area but had all the advantages of a funky new-build,” Barker says. “We are having sound and plasma screens in all the rooms, and we won’t have to spend weekends slaving over DIY.

“It is in a convenient position and we can escape from our hectic lives in London on weekends.”

The locals have mixed feelings about the new arrivals. Trevor Bigg, chairman of Westcote Parish Meeting, urges incomers to get involved in local life. “Gradually the character of our villages is changing as we get more and more weekenders or people who commute moving here.”

Clara Veale and Camilla Jackson agree. They live in a farm cottage 10 minutes from Moreton-in-Marsh, where Jackson, 26, works as a sculptor and portrait artist, and Veale, 30, exercises racehorses for a trainer.

“It will be a real shame if people come to live here and then never get their wellies muddy,” says Veale. “This isn’t a play area for townies, it is somewhere people have lived and worked for generations. Farming and hunting are a big part of life here, but as long as people are willing to get stuck in, they will find it all very friendly.”

Two years ago, Jackson dressed (or rather undressed) as Lady Godiva and rode her horse through Parliament Square wearing nothing but her knickers and boots to protest at the ban on hunting. “It is sad when you see lovely houses standing empty for most of the week, but weekenders are good for the local economy — the teashops and gift shops thrive on them,” she says. Moreton-in- Marsh and Stow-on-the-Wold now have organic delis, juice bars and shops selling Dolce & Gabbana.

Of the 97 houses being built at Blenheim Park, two-thirds are sold, and Crest Nicholson has applied for planning permission for 44 more.

Fair enough, say the locals. But no more pink diamanté welly boots, please. They frighten the sheep.

Crest Nicholson, 01608 651 100, www.crestnicholson.com

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