HOLLYWOOD legend Antonio Banderas reportedly plans to move back to his home city of Málaga permanently, and has put his luxury mansion in Surrey, UK on the market.
Antonio Banderas sells up in Surrey to move back to the Costa del Sol, where he was born and grew up (photo: Huf Haus)
The actor, 61, has been living in the Home Counties in the south of England for several years with his partner, Dutch-German financial consultant Nicole Kimpel, 40, for some years, where he was reputedly studying an art and design course at London's prestigious Saint Martin's College.
His time in Surrey, seeking the quiet life after a long spell living in Hollywood, was partly marred by his heart attack a few years back – which he recovered from in full after being admitted to a hospital in Switzerland for observation – and by his 60th birthday last year being far from the celebration the long-running 'Almodóvar Boy' had envisaged: Aside from most of Europe being in lockdown at the time, Banderas was diagnosed with Covid, although he did not have to be hospitalised and his only symptoms were extreme tiredness.
The pop-up, minimalist, bespoke villa he and Nicole have been living in was designed by the German firm Huf Haus, which specialises in 'eco-efficient' living.
It has five bedrooms, three storeys, a gym and spa, double- and triple-glazed windows – floor to ceiling, in some cases, offering a high level of natural light and sun-generated heating, and the building itself is 500 square metres.
Four terraces and a huge garden, with panoramic views across the Surrey countryside, the mansion is just outside the town of Cobham and is up for sale for around €3.5 million with Savills estate agents.
Although Antonio Banderas describes the location as 'magical', the pull of 'home' is proving even stronger.
‘Magical’, but it's not Málaga - Tinseltown actor's UK house is on sale for €3.5 million (photo: Savills)
“I go out on my bike in the woods, and I'm surrounded by nature,” he says.
“I love seeing the deer and foxes that pop into my garden.”
But the pandemic has changed his focus – with travel abroad, from wherever one lives, being more difficult and actually being able to do it not always guaranteed, the fact that the Mask of Zorro star has a number of projects lined up in Spain means he can no longer nip back and forth the way he, and indeed many other Spaniards in Britain or Brits in Spain, used to do before the Covid crisis.
This ease of travel will probably return once the majority of Europe is vaccinated, and the old routine of two-hour, low-cost hand-luggage-only flights where one turns up barely an hour before boarding and still has time for an airside coffee may well be back on schedule, but with filming and other work already lined up in Spain, Banderas needs to be able to guarantee he can be there when needed.
As well as his appearances in front of the camera, directing or, in the case of his highest-grossing films ever, being the voice of a cartoon cat (in the Shrek series), Banderas owns a theatre in Málaga and will be actively involved in production and management.
The house in Cobham, designed to his and Nicole's specifications at the time, cost too much to keep for the very limited amount of time they now spend there, the actor admits.
