Friday, 29th February 2008

Save Malta's finest Art Nouveau house

Mario Buhagiar, head of the Department of History of Art, Faculty of Arts, University of Malta, Msida.

One of Malta's finest early 20th century houses, Villa Roseville, in St Anthony Street, Attard is in a state of near dereliction and, unless immediate action is taken, it may soon be too late to save it.

Built between 1912 and 1921 by architects Alessandro Mannara and Emmanuele Borg, the house is a prime example of the Stile Liberty (or Floreale) architecture, more popularly known as Art Nouveau, and demands protection and appreciation.

A plea for its preservation was made by Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna in December 2000, and I highlighted its significance to Maltese art history in a letter to The Times (December 22, 2000).

The then Planning Authority issued a conservation order in January, 2001 (The Times, January 3, 2001) but took no steps to safeguard it and it was left to rot in (perhaps) intentional neglect.

Now a conspicuous section of the wrought iron railings has gone missing, and the wood work of the window shutters has been reduced to pulp leaving the interior to the mercy of the elements.

A lot of lip service is paid to the wealth of our cultural heritage and the need to protect it, but cases such as that of Roseville make you cynical of its true intensions.

Previous article • Sant's visit to Għargħur
Next article • No more smiling

Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Tuesday, November 24, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

Beryl Micallef (on 14/5/08)

I passed a hundred of times in front of this house but only noted its beautiful facade last week and decided to search and see if I could find if this property is for sale. It is a pity to see this property rot away. It badly needs restoration and if owners are asking a high price it will be difficult to sell. I would like to know if this property is for sale.

Rosemarie Dorekens (on 29/2/08)

I totally agree with Mr. Buhagiar and I think that this house is one of Malta's finest, architecturally speaking. A magnificent job was done in restoring Luigi Preziosi's house in St. Paul's Bay. When visiting other EU cities alot of pride is given to famous architects who have shaped, built and landmarked their cities all over the world. Antonio Gaudi, Victor Horta are well known for thier works. We should never allow our heritage to fall to pieces.

Charles Busutil (on 29/2/08)

I believe that all the houses between L-Istazzjon and Strickland Street in the same St Anthony Street in Attard had been scheduled. Some of these houses must have a history probably connected with the train station and the President's Palace. Perhaps Mr Mario Buhagiar could shed some light on the past of this interesting street.

C. Scerri (on 29/2/08)

Though fully agree to save this jewel, it is privately owned and as such I do not think that any authority has any powers (accept the conservation order) to do much. Most probably its sale price is prohibitive for anyone to decide to buy it so what can the authorities do - force the owners to sell, fix the house, requisition it???

L.Aquilina (on 29/2/08)

Whilst we are it it would be nice if someone took care to the set of houses in Tigne Street corner with St.Anthony Street,which are turn of the century with interesting architectural features. They are abandoned and slowly falling to bits

Not that it seems to help but I believe there is some sort of preservation order on these already. If there isn;t there certainly should be.

Time will soon come no doubt, when someone will say they are not worth preserving and before you know it another multi storey will take their place.