Quinta do Lago was founded in 1971 by Polish-Brazilian
property developer André Jordan, three years after the end of
Salazar's rule. The original 550-hectare site, "Quinta dos Ramalhos" (Ramalhos Estate), contained the ruins of an old farmhouse (today "Casa Velha", having been rebuilt as a restaurant in 1972), a
stone pine forest adjacent to both the
Ria Formosa and the growing resort of
Vale do Lobo which had been founded eight years earlier. Jordan's company, Planal, acquired the property on 20 December 1971. The Pinto de Magalhães family previously owned the large beach-lined estate for over 300 years. Within three years, a bridge to the beach had been built, the lake was created over the salt flats, and 27 holes of golf designed by architect William F. Mitchell had been completed. Following the 1974
Carnation Revolution, Andre Jordan returned to Brazil, leaving the Portuguese state to manage. In 1974, revolutionary leader
Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho presided over the golf courses' inauguration; in 1976, the
Portuguese Open was held in Quinta do Lago for the first time. In 1981, Portuguese politics stabilised, and Quinta do Lago management was returned to Planal, and Jordan returned to Portugal. The
Portuguese Open was again held in Quinta do Lago in 1984–86. In 1986, the Four Seasons Country Club opened in the heart of Quinta, followed by the Four Seasons Fairways; neither resort is related to the Canadian
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts group. In 1987, Jordan sold the resort (i.e. Planal, the holding company) to a consortium of British shareholders headed by Roger Abraham, a former banker at
Chase Manhattan Bank, and food entrepreneur
David Thompson. By 1989, Abraham had withdrawn, and Thompson headed the resort alone. The Portuguese Open was held in the resort again in 1988-90 and 2001. In 1998, Planal was acquired by Irish billionaire
Denis O'Brien. ==Golf courses==