Penny Lancaster, 54, has shared a rare glimpse into her marriage with Rod Stewart, 80 – and it revolves around one very strict house rule.
The TV personality, who has been married to Stewart since 2007, revealed that there is one room in their Hertfordshire mansion she can only enter if accompanied by the singer.
That room is home to Stewart’s impressive model railway, Grand Street and Three Rivers Railroad, a passion project he has been working on for over three decades.
The singer, who has long been dedicated to building and perfecting the layout, first housed the model in his Los Angeles mansion before having it shipped to the UK during the pandemic, when the couple permanently relocated to England.
Speaking on the We’re Not Getting Any Younger podcast, Lancaster explained the significance of the railway for Stewart, and its impact on their relationship.
“Rod’s obsessed with his trains because he’s got the railway modelling layout,” she told hosts Lisa Snowdon and Andy Goldstein.
“It’s about four times the size of this room. He’s been working on it for about 35 years. I can’t remember the scale, but it’s very tiny and he has literally built every single building.”
Lancaster added that Stewart has a sharp eye for architectural details, making sure tiny elements like drainpipes and windows are precisely recreated.
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“It started before my time. We met 25 years ago, and it was already halfway finished. Then, during lockdown, he shipped the whole layout from America to London, and now it’s in containers in our garden,” she said.
When asked if she was allowed inside to see it, Lancaster explained: “You can go in, but it’s within these air‑tight, air‑conditioned containers. It’s like museum quality.”
The host then jokingly asked if she was even allowed to enter the room herself. “I am, but not by myself,” she confessed, prompting Snowdon to laugh and exclaim: “You need a chaperone in there!”
Lancaster added that her husband can spend several hours a day working on the model trains as she continued: “But when these guys are on tour, there’s a lot of downtime.
“Ronnie Wood is an artist. Tom Jones, he’s an artist. They take their other crafts and other creativity with them and this is Rod’s thing.
“In fact it’s Jools Holland’s thing and lots of others he’s found out that are into the train thing.
“It’s more of an obsession than an addiction and it’s more of the fact that his attention to detail is on another level. It’s painstakingly thorough in every way.”
Lancaster added that the hobby keeps Stewart “sane”.
