Inside Roman Abramovich’s £340million property portfolio – two of London’s best addresses, a Caribbean party pad, French chateau and a Bond villain-style sky lodge
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH is to try and double the living space of his Tel Aviv pile amid visa issues in the UK, it emerged this week.
But the £17.1million former hotel – which Chelsea’sowner is planning to turn into a 12-bedroom mansion – is just one of a wealth of properties the billionaire oligarch owns around the world.
Despite his problems with the Home Office, in part due to increased tensions between Downing Street and the Kremlin, Abramovich, who is worth at least £9billion, still owns some of the very best real estate in London.
There’s the massive mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens – dubbed ‘billionaires’ row’ – and the three-storey penthouse he’s taken at exclusive tower block Chelsea Waterfront.
We’ve previously looked at his £1billion superyacht and his fleet of stunning supercars – here, we look through Abramovich’s outrageous property portfolio.
Kensington Palace Gardens – £125million
Abramovich bought the cream 15-bedroom mansion on ‘billionaires’ row’ for £90m in 2009.
Kensington Palace Gardens is one of the most desirable addresses in the world, with business magnates such as Laksmi Mittal and Wang Jianlin living on the road.
It sits behind Kensington Palace, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, in a road protected by armed police, retractable bollards and CCTV.
As property prices in central London have ballooned, the pad is now worth at least £125m, according to local estate agents – and very soon it’ll be worth even more.
That’s because plans were approved in 2016 for the oligarch to increase the size of the Grade II listed building from 16,000sq/ft to 20,000sq/ft.
The building was formerly the Russian embassy but is now fit for a king.
The main renovation work is to replace a swimming pool described as “miserable” by architects designing the upgrades.
The current underground swimming pool will be filled in and replaced with staff accommodation, while the new indoor pool will be at ground level and be lit by skylights.
The dining room and the playroom on the lower ground floor will be made bigger, while there will also be a widening of the outside terrace.
Chelsea Waterfront – £30million
It’s not yet clear what Mr Abramovich will do with this eye-watering apartment if he can’t get back into the UK.
In 2017, the Russian decided to get the biggest and best living space in Sir Terry Farrell’s exquisite addition to the London skyscape.
Apartment’s in the development at the former Lots Road power station in Chelsea START at £2million.
But Chelsea’s owner has got the penthouse.
The £30m apartment stretches over three floors and boasts 6,000sq/ft of space.
Views from the 35th-37th floors look out over London, with the apartment boasting floor-to-ceiling windows giving the owner a 360-degree view of the city – he’ll be able to see the Thames and Stamford Bridge stadium.
His design team is said to already be kitting out the interior with the tower set for completion in 2021.
The penthouse comes with a small sting in the tail, however, with underground parking set to cost residents £85,000 annually.
Chateau de la Croe – £87million
The large detached villa on the Cap d’Antibes in the Cote d’Azur was once a summer retreat for the Duke of Windsor after he abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Winston and Clementine Churchill celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with the Windsors at the chateau in 1948.
Mr Abramovich bought the pad in 2001 and is reported to have spent up to €180m restoring and renovating it over the years.
A pool was built on the roof, while a gym and a cinema were installed in the basement.
There is also a 400 square-metre ‘ecological’ pool fed by a vast waterfall and surrounded by water lilies.
It is now said to be worth around €100 million (£87m).
But Roman found himself in hot water with French authorities after undervaluing the Chateau – in October, he was ordered to pay another €1.2m tax for the years 2006 and 2007.
Colorado ski ranch – £18million
In 2003, the Russian attempted to buy an entire alpine ski town.
That bid failed after opposition from the locals – but he eventually got his mountain retreat in 2008.
Abramovich spent £18m on a 200-acre ranch on Wildcat Ridge, near Aspen, the resort loved by Hollywood’s A-list.
The stunning 11-bedroom, 12-bathroom Bond villain style home comes in floor-to-ceiling glass and sitting at a height of 9,200 feet and overlooking the stunning Rocky mountain range.
It’s 14,000sq/ft and comes complete with custom furniture, many of which is upholstered in mink.
The ranch is eco-friendly, with two geo-thermal wells and a generator heating driveways, the pool and the house in winter and cooling them in summer – without the need for fossil fuels.
Abramovich even bought a £5.6million ski lodge down the road for when he actually wants to hit the slopes.
Earlier this year, the Russian sued his telecommunications provider after he was slapped with a £390,000 bill for a botched fibre-optics job.
The Chelsea owner had wanted improved reception and service in one of the Colorado homes – but the people carrying out the work destroyed a section of forest.
Abramovich was billed to restore the forest, but his legal team argued he was not liable for the damages.
St Bart’s estate – £54million
The estate, known as the Gouverneur Bay Estate, is set in dense forest and has access to a private beach and crystal blue Caribbean ocean.
The 70-acre site was formerly owned by David Rockerfeller and is designed to look like a Balinese village.
There are four bungalows, with 9 bathrooms, for Abramovich to entertain guests, with the site stretching along 1,000ft of pristine beach.
The main suite includes a bay view and wraparound veranda, an outdoor shower for two and private swimming pool.
Elsewhere on the site is a massive kitchen and a main entertainment complex dubbed the Lizard Lounge.
The shared pool has a swim-up bar and fully-equipped BBQ area, an outdoor dining room, outdoor stage and outdoor cinema – there are also two tennis courts.
It has been the scene of many raucous parties with Abramovich a huge fan of hosting in his younger days.
Beyonce and the Black Eyed Peas have performed New Year’s Eve parties for Abramovich, while a 2010 bash saw Orlando Bloom, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lindsay Lohan on the guestlist.
Tel Aviv Hotel – £17.1million
Purchased in 2015, Abramovich now intends to double the size of this hotel in trendy Tel Aviv and make it a massive single home, reportedly because of his visa issues.
He had bought the hotel last year from Yaron Varsano – the businessman husband of stunning Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot.
Abramovich will take the six-bed hotel and turn it into a private 12-bed mansion.
There are plans to add a new two-storey wing that will add 1,500sq/m to the 19th century listed building.
He will also add an inner courtyard and an underground car park.
The complex has a reception lobby, two studio apartments and three separate villas.
Moscow residence – unknown
Little is known about Abramovich’s Russian mansion.
There are scant references to it and no pictures appear to exist.
It is unknown where it is, what size it is and how much it cost.
It’s understood he has another three residences in Russia in addition to his main home.
New York City Townhouses – unknown
This one is a bit complicated.
Abramovich had planned to build the biggest private residence in Manhattan, combining three townhouses – No11, 13 and 15 – on the Upper East Side into one massive mansion.
A fourth townhouse on the street – No9 – was then bought with that house to be joined with No11 and 13 to make the house.
The four houses were bought for a combined $96million (£74.89m) over the past three years, with another townhouse bought two blocks away.
However, in September, Abramovich sold the four neighbouring houses to his ex-wife, Dasha Zhukova for $91.4m (£71.3m).
Although you may think that work would stop – Zhukova intended to combine the houses with work starting in October.
The five-floor property will be 31,000sq/ft, with one of those floors solely dedicated to the master suite.
It will be five-bedrooms and have 12 bathrooms, while the mega-mansion will also boast indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna, two lifts, a wine cellar and a private roof garden.
Abramovich is still believed to own the townhouse around the corner.
Fyning Hill Estate – £18million
Another former Abramovich home that the billionaire lost to an ex-wife.
The country pile in Petersfield, West Sussex, is 425 acres and was part of the divorce settlement between Abramovich and his second wife, Irina Maladina.
A former flight attendant, Ms Maladina also got a £155million settlement.
The main house has eight bedrooms and five reception rooms.