England striker Michael Owen has just boosted his already respectable property portfolio by purchasing a new house on Portugal’s Algarve. The £2-million, four-bedroom villa, which once belonged to Formula One ace Ayrton Senna, is located in the exclusive resort of Quinta do Lago and boasts a heated pool and gym.
“Villas in this area have become popular with the very rich. It’s quiet and there is wonderful golf,” says local property agent Maria Pereira. The footie star’s new home is located close to the Quinta do Lago golf course, which is regularly used for competitions on the professional golf circuit. Both Michael and his father Terry, 50, are keen players.
Among his neighbours the 22-year-old Footballer Of The Year will count his former international striking partner Alan Shearer and former Radio One and Virgin Radio DJ Chris Evans. Opera singer Pavarotti, singer Alanis Morissette and Princess Caroline of Monaco are also frequent guests at the resort’s five-star Quinta do Lago hotel.
The soccer star, who shares his life with his 21-year-old childhood sweetheart Louise Bonsall, has other properties in the UK including £1.6 million Lower Soughton Hall, a 12-acre estate in Northrop which he is due to renovate. While he awaits planning permission for the a glass roofed leisure wing and kiddies playroom, he and Louise are living in a £200,000 home in Hawarden.
Not all his purchases are intended for use by the couple, however. Michael’s generosity to his family is legendary, and two and a half years ago he bought an estate of five houses in the village of Ewloe in North Wales to accommodate them.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
