Thank you to everyone who has replied to my thread. I think maybe I was jumping to conclusions and thinking the worst and his motives were probably completely innocent and benign for inviting me to his home. He was probably just being friendly and didn't think beyond that. I suppose it was just unexpected and threw me off course a bit as it was very much out of the blue. I have said in my email to him that the normal setting we meet at is much easier for me to get to (its where he supervises all his students) but that I'd be delighted to visit his home with my husband (whom he knows) socially, thereby keeping my supervisions professional but also being courteous and sociable about coming to his home (with my husband or in a group context) in the future. I haven't heard from him as of yet, hopefully everything will be okay. Thanks once again, everyone for your kind and helpful advice:)

Basically, I have a question about my Supervisor and the issue of boundaries. Up until now our relationship has been strictly professional and he has been an excellent supervisor. Recently, there have been rumours that his marriage is having difficulties. Hitherto, we'd always had supervisions in formal surroundings. Then, suddenly, he invited me to his home for my supervision. This I thought odd because: 1) I live about 150 miles from him and don't have a car, 2) I've never been invited to his home before nor heard of any other students going there (he normally maintains a professional distance from his students and meets them in a formal setting), 3) why the sudden change in meeting place for supervision from formal to informal? 4) If he wanted to invite me to his home on a social pretext, why not invite me with my husband (whom he has met before) and on a separate occasion outside our supervision sessions. Up until now my relationship with my Supervisor I would describe as formal but also warm and relaxed. He is many years older than me and I have always regarded him in a fatherly kind of light. He's always respected my space and not made any passes at me or anything like that. At first, I thought maybe I was being paranoid about this, but my husband and a close friend think my Supervisor's motives for inviting me to his home on my own are not strictly professional. If so, I am shocked, especially as I've known him 5 yrs and he's never overstepped the mark in the past. I should add that this past year he has gone into semi-retirement and does not play as prominent a role in my Department at University. However, he is highly eminent, even famous in his field of academia and very much respected, his reputation is flawless professionally and personally, so if my worst fears are true, then I am very much shocked. It doesn't make sense this sudden change in his behaviour towards me after 5 yrs nor in relation to his reputation in the wider scheme of things. I'd welcome some honest opinions from others on this forum. What do you think? I should add that I have suggested to my Supervisor that I'd prefer to meet in the usual formal setting that we usually meet at because it's easy to travel to and because I do not have a car and his place is in a remote place in the countryside which I can't get to easily. The formal setting that I usually meet my Supervisor is the standard place where he supervises his PhD students since semi-retirement. Honest opinions and comments most welcome, thank you.