Roman Abramovich signs most expensive residential real estate deal in the Caribbean
HE thinks nothing of shelling out as much as £30 million for a single footballer.
So for Roman Abramovich, the £54 million price of his new Caribbean holiday home will have been a drop in the ocean.
The owner of Chelsea football club bought the 70-acre estate on the exclusive island of St Barts three months ago.
Abramovich and his partner Daria Zhukova, who recently gave birth to their son Aaron, arrived on the island on Monday and their first major event there will be an extravagant Christmas party for 250 guests.
The Gouverneur Bay Estate was once owned by David Rockefeller of the American banking dynasty and most recently by software tycoon Jeet Singh.
Abramovich, who is worth more than £5 billion, bought the lavish waterfront property in September in the most expensive deal ever for a Caribbean island.
Designed like a Bali village, the estate covers a lush landscaped hillside and runs along more than 1,000 feet of Gouverneur’s Beach, one of the island’s most beautiful shorelines.
One Caribbean property specialist said: “It is a spectacular property. Truly, it is one of the most amazing in the world. Roman fell in love with it.”
The estate, which previously had been rented out for £90,000 a week during the winter high season, includes four Bali-style bedroom bungalows, each made from tropical timbers.
The house’s main suite has a bayview bedroom with a wraparound verandah, and a huge air conditioned bathroom with a free-standing soaking tub and a walk-in closet. There is also an outdoor shower for two and a private swimming pool with a rock waterfall.
The estate includes a catering kitchen for large parties, a main living room area called the Lizard Lounge, and an entertainment complex that includes a swimming pool with in-water speakers and a swim-up bar.
There is also another smaller but fully equipped kitchen and barbecue area, an outdoor dining room, plus two pavilions. There is even an outdoor cinema for watching films under the stars, and tennis courts.
According to previous owner Mr Singh, the estate’s simplicity is its charm — despite the price tag.
He said: “It’s like you’re basically living on a beach. It’s not like a lot of things you might see on St Bart’s which are kind of fancy.”
Besides Chelsea, Abramovich counts among his possessions the world’s largest privately owned yacht, a Colorado ski estate and a contemporary art collection valued at more than £60million.
