Rory McIlroy and Erica Stoll's new neighbours in leafy Surrey: Inside the star-studded community golf icon is set to call home... but GHOSTS haunt 'millionaires row'

Rory McIlroy completed his career Grand Slam by winning The Masters at Augusta last month, while the finishing touches were also being put on another important project in his life.

After slipping on the iconic Green Jacket and celebrating with his wife Erica Stoll and daughter Poppy at Augusta, McIlroy quickly returned to the UK with his family. He revealed that one of his first stops was Wentworth, home to the famous private golf club in Surrey, where membership costs up to £200,000.

The club sits within the Wentworth Estate—an ultra-exclusive residential area that has been home to top golfers, celebrities, politicians, and billionaires for decades. McIlroy confirmed he had visited his new house there before continuing his journey to see his family in Holywood.

McIlroy bought the land in 2023 and work has recently been completed on the mansion

According to reports, McIlroy purchased the land in 2023 and is believed to have spent up to £9 million building the family home. Notably, construction continued even during a turbulent period when he filed for divorce from Erica Stoll last year, seven years after their marriage.

That decision was later reversed, with McIlroy stating the couple had “resolved their differences” and were looking forward to “a new beginning.” The U-turn came just ahead of last year’s US Open, only a month after the divorce papers were filed.

Following this year’s tournament, the McIlroy family are expected to relocate to Wentworth—a significant step in their personal lives. Previously, they had been living in a £16.5 million mansion in Jupiter, Florida, since 2017.

The Florida property sits on 2.4 acres of land and includes nine bedrooms, ten bathrooms, and a range of luxury features such as an infinity pool, games room, tennis court, home theatre, recording studio, and a state-of-the-art gym. The 13,000-square-foot home also boasts a six-car garage.

The decision to return to the UK is believed to be influenced by Erica Stoll, who has not particularly enjoyed Florida’s hot climate. In Netflix’s documentary Full Swing, McIlroy revealed that his wife prefers cooler weather.

“If it was up to her, she wouldn’t move to England straight away, but she definitely wants to spend more time there,” McIlroy said.

German golfer Martin Kaymer once recalled a conversation with Erica at a Starbucks, where she admitted: “I really don’t like the sun.” Kaymer joked in response: “Your state’s called the Sunshine State, right?”

Another golfer, JJ Spaun, also revealed that McIlroy mentioned building a house in the UK during a conversation after a match. “He said: ‘Oh yeah, I’m building a house out there’,” Spaun recalled.

Despite the move, McIlroy is expected to keep his Florida home and also owns properties in New York and Dubai.

Wentworth Estate remains not only a symbol of wealth but also a place filled with unique and sometimes unusual stories—making McIlroy’s next chapter there all the more intriguing. Wentworth Estate is not only a symbol of luxury but is also steeped in unusual stories. Before officially moving in, McIlroy even had to navigate a heated planning battle over renovations. Last month, he was granted “very special” permission to install a heat pump for a large outdoor swimming pool after a contentious approval process. Prior to that, he had already secured planning permission for a dining and utility room extension, a new roof, internal alterations, as well as an outdoor pool, play centre, and a 5ft-high water feature wall.

Moving to Wentworth means McIlroy will join an exclusive circle of powerful figures who have lived on the 1,750-acre estate. Current residents include fellow golfers Thomas Bjorn and Ernie Els, the latter having played a major role in redesigning the Wentworth golf course. The list of former residents is equally notable, including Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, who were gifted a home there by Queen Elizabeth before later selling it to Kazakh billionaire Timur Kulibayev for £15 million.

UK’s ‘most exclusive estate’ is turning into ghost town with late TV star’s mansion among plush homes falling to ruin

The estate has also been home to more controversial figures, such as Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky and former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who was famously placed under house arrest there for nearly 18 months under armed guard. Stories like these have contributed to Wentworth’s reputation as a place not only of wealth but also of historical intrigue.

Adding to its mystique are more unusual claims. Musician Gary Numan once admitted in a 2019 interview that he believed his home on the estate was haunted. “I had a big neo-Georgian house on Wentworth golf course, but I was convinced it was haunted,” he said. “Some weird s*** had been going on – I’d come home and the house was in darkness when I was convinced I’d left the lights on. So one day, I made a point of turning on every single light in the house. I got back from the studio and – f*** me – the house was in total darkness. It freaked me out completely.”

Neighbours have claimed that the main gates have remained closed while moss and weeds have grown over the tennis court and surrounding lawns

At the same time, there is a more grounded issue: many of the estate’s luxury properties remain empty for long periods. Locals have long complained about so-called “ghost properties”—multi-million-pound homes that sit unoccupied, some even falling into disrepair with overgrown lawns and permanently closed gates.

One local told MailOnline: “This is just one of many empty homes on the Wentworth estate, which is a real pity because this is a fantastic place to live in. It seems that a lot of people have just bought them for investment purposes or are having second thoughts about living in the UK. It just goes to show how rich they must be if they can have such a large property and choose not to live in it.”

There are clear examples of this trend. The home where the late TV host Bruce Forsyth spent his final years has been left neglected since it was sold in 2020. Similarly, England captain Harry Kane purchased a £6.6 million mansion to renovate, but after his move to Bayern Munich, the property has remained largely unused.

Despite this, McIlroy’s move with his family suggests he may become one of the few residents who actually live on the estate rather than treating it as an investment. However, given the demanding schedule of a world-class golfer, how often he will truly stay at Wentworth remains uncertain.

“Straight after Augusta we travelled over to see the house as it was going through the finishing touches,” McIlroy said. “It was fun to see it, and we could have stayed in it, but we wanted to get over to Holywood.”

The nature of the golf circuit will likely keep McIlroy on the move for long periods of time throughout the year, but the star and Stoll are poised to make the significant step by joining Wentworth's famous residents.