{"id":47686,"date":"2025-08-06T11:20:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T11:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/47686\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T11:20:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T11:20:11","slug":"golf-homes-but-not-as-you-know-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/47686\/","title":{"rendered":"Golf homes, but not as you know them"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Trilogy, overlooking the lake at Royal La Moraleja golf course near Madrid, is more akin to a series of sculptures than three properties. Architect Fran Silvestre designed each house, with their distinct clean lines and geometric volumes, to \u201ccreate spaces that awaken the emotions\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n

On the market from \u20ac10.5mn, the homes are a world away<\/a> from the identikit Moorish-style golf properties built in the 1980s and 1990s in southern Spain and Portugal\u2019s Algarve \u2014 and not just in terms of price tag. Architecture <\/a>wasn\u2019t the priority back then: the focus for buyers was golf<\/a> \u2014 playing 36 holes a day \u2014 while for developers it was to sell as many homes as possible, says Martin Ebert, an international golf course architect whose company, Mackenzie & Ebert, advises eight of the 10 Open Championship venues. \u201cThe tendency was to put in too many homes, each of a very similar style. At some developments, every hole was surrounded by houses.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But buyers and their expectations have evolved, says Paloma P\u00e9rez Bravo, head of residential at Lucas Fox, which is selling the properties that make up The Trilogy. There are more women and families in the mix, and a desire for architect-designed homes that speak to the local culture and lifestyle. \u201cThey want a family retreat with access to nature, wellness and culture,\u201d she says. More people also are also wanting to play 12 and nine hole courses, which are faster and more inclusive for families, adds Ebert.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among Ebert\u2019s recent projects is the 1,100-acre championship course at Moncayo, in Puerto Rico, where the first phase of golf residences, available from 2027, has been designed by architectural practice Hart Howerton, and will be managed by Auberge Resorts. The homes are built into the tropical landscape and the design, which blends modernism with Taino and Spanish Colonial influences, maximises light and makes the most of the ocean views. Golf is not the only activity on the agenda: residents can trek in the rainforest, hike in the mountains and fly fish. \u201cGolf has become cooler,\u201d he posits. \u201cAnd so too have golf properties\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AerialA rendering of The Trilogy, a development of three properties by architect Fran Silvestre at Royal La Moraleja golf course near Madrid, from \u20ac10.5mn <\/p>\n

Ebert regards the pandemic as a turning point: a younger demographic started playing \u2014 newly appreciating the combination of spending time in a protected landscape playing sport. Home sales near Spanish golf courses increased by 25 per cent between 2020 and 2023, fuelled in part by second-home buyers from the UK, Germany and Scandinavia, according to the Spanish Land Registrars Association. The average golfer\u2019s age dropped from 46 to 41 after the pandemic, according to data from governing body R&A and England Golf, while the tournament organiser PGA\u2019s \u2018Golf for All\u2019 report shows that players under 45 now make up the majority of on-course golfers in the UK and Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreasingly, golf courses are celebrated as areas where land has been protected, and where \u2014 between the holes \u2014 flora and fauna can flourish,\u201d says Ebert. \u201cBuyers like the fact the view is secure. On a golf course you always know what you\u2019re going to be looking at in years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a new generation, ecological considerations are a growing priority. Properties such as The Seven, a new development of seven homes by seven leading architects (including Silvestre) at La Reserva in Sotogrande, use local materials, have renewable energy systems and have designs that keep them naturally cool in summer and warm in winter.<\/p>\n

\"ModernA four-bedroom villa at Finca Cortes\u00edn, in Casares, Andalusia, \u20ac5.98mn through Lucas Fox <\/p>\n

The Trilogy takes its design cues from La Moraleja, an upmarket residential enclave a few kilometres from Madrid city centre that\u2019s dotted with pines, cypress and olive trees; the three designs aim to frame the views and mimic the land\u2019s contours. The Andalusian stone floors and locally sourced ash and brass finishes echo the hues of the surrounding forests. Silvestre says he wanted to create a sense of \u201ccalmness\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009peacefulness\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009protection and seclusion\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Increasingly, golf courses are celebrated as areas where land has been protected, and where \u2014 between the holes \u2014 flora and fauna can flourish<\/p>\n

Martin Ebert, international golf course architect<\/p>\n

Privacy is an increasing priority, says P\u00e9rez Bravo. \u201cThe next generation of golf properties are family retreats; owners are looking to spend more time at the property \u2014 often several months of the year \u2014 and want it to feel private and personal.\u201d Gated communities with security and concierge facilities are high on the wish list. But top-end security comes at a price: one property in The Seven development in Sotogrande, with its 24-hour security and gated entrance, is on the market for \u20ac22.5mn. <\/p>\n

At Quinta do Lago, in Portugal, there are similarly high prices \u2014\u00a0up to \u20ac30mn for a new-build villa. But North Grove, the final undeveloped piece of land from the original master plan, has three plots available from \u20ac3.5mn without architectural design restrictions, allowing buyers free rein. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, younger buyers are putting down roots in new communities such as Finca Cortes\u00edn, in Casares, Andalusia, and those in Murcia, Alicante and Castellon. Often drawn by the local landscape they are looking for architecture that makes the most of it, adds Jules Cowan-Dewar, chief marketing officer of Cabot, which has residential golf resorts in St Lucia, Scotland, Canada and the US. \u201cThey won\u2019t settle for somewhere that could be anywhere,\u201d she says. \u201cIf they\u2019re in the Caribbean, they want views of the ocean, storage for kite surfing equipment and outdoor living spaces to read and entertain, while in Nova Scotia they\u2019ll want a deck to watch the lobster boats come in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AerialCabot Cliffs on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada: a modern take on coastal vernacular that won a Governor General\u2019s Medal in Architecture last year <\/p>\n

At Cabot Cliffs on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, London-based practice FBM Architecture has designed simple cedar shingle homes in the dunes with metal roofs that are a modern take on local coastal vernacular, with soft grey and blue interiors to reflect the colours of the surroundings. The development was one of 12 to win the Governor General\u2019s Medal in Architecture last year. \u201cBuyers want to feel connected to the place,\u201d says Cowan-Dewar. The houses are all now sold, but ocean-view plots, where owners can build a custom property, are on the market from C$1.3mn (\u00a3709,212). <\/p>\n

Building a home from scratch is the holy grail for many. After returning each year for a decade to Costa Navarino, the resort destination with four 18-hole championship courses in Greece\u2019s Peloponnese, Theresa Kern and her husband bought a plot and instructed Athens-based architects K-Studio to design something that embodied the feel of the resort, with its rolling hills, olive groves and vineyards overlooking the Ionian Sea. \u201cWe loved the region and the people; we wanted somewhere to be with our three children and our friends where everyone could be together but also have their own space,\u201d says Kern.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ModernSouthwand House, Costa Navarino, In Greece\u2019s Peloponnese, a resort with four 18-hole championship courses \u00a9 Ana Santl Andersen<\/p>\n

The result, Southwand House, is built into the hillside using local quarried stone; views stretch over the pool to the golf course and the sea. Its low-rise design, with indoor-outdoor living spaces and four bedrooms, embraces modern architectural styles: architect Dimitris Karampatakis was determined that it sat comfortably within the landscape but was not lost in it. The inspiration was homes in the local Messinian villages, with airy central courtyards and covered outdoor areas. \u201cIt\u2019s built for the family experience,\u201d says Kern. \u201cThere\u2019s space for entertaining and a lawn for football or volleyball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karampatakis describes the architectural style as soft modernism; rather than the minimalist architecture of the 1960s and 1970s, texture is introduced. Rough concrete and carved stone will age beautifully, he says. \u201cIt appears defensive from the outside, but inside, it opens to the view. The classical-style Greek atrium with olive tree reflects Theresa\u2019s poise and the dramatic view channels her husband\u2019s high-energy extrovert nature.\u201d There are limited plots still available at Costa Navarino, starting from \u20ac6.8mn for off-plan, six-bedroom villas.<\/p>\n

\"OutdoorArchitect Dimitris Karampatakis describes the style of Southwand House as \u2018soft modernism\u2019\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009 \u00a9 Ana Santl Andersen\"Modern.\u2009.\u2009. \u2018It appears defensive from the outside, but inside, it opens to the view,\u2019 he says \u00a9 Ana Santl Andersen<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important for modern buyers to be able to add their personal stamp, says P\u00e9rez Bravo \u2014 which is not in line with the old-school ethos of many golf destinations where properties were supposed to dovetail with the character of the estate. When Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey was constructed in 1922, for example, private residential plots had strict covenants to ensure nothing too radical was built.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet modern interpretations take into consideration their surroundings in different ways. Southwand House, with its nod to ancient vernacular and use of local stone and wood, evokes the character of the landscape as well as of its current occupants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Karampatakis points out, there is never just one story that a house can tell. \u201cEach owner will fill the house with their life and it will keep reinventing itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find out about our latest stories first \u2014 follow @ft_houseandhome<\/a> on Instagram<\/p>\n