Behind high walls and an imposing green metal gate, Villa Francia is a beautiful jewel hidden from the rest of the world and seen by a lucky few.

Project architect Claude Borg has dedicated the past three years to restoring it to its former beauty, laying great emphasis on how it looked in the past.

The villa has a coach room, a water mill, about 10 fountains and is surrounded by vast gardens. It has been extensively and lovingly restored in a government project.

For example, all the walls were given a limestone wash, which was used when the villa was originally built, and this will also help prevent further deterioration.

Great thought and care was taken in the laying of the water and electricity supply because the walls and floors of the villa, which is scheduled as Grade 1, could not be touched. In fact, these were passed beneath the floor paving or re-laid in the old trenches cut in the wall. In one particular corridor, Mr Borg had all the tiles removed, passed the services and carefully re-laid the tiles.

The majority of the works were carried out by employees of the Resources Ministry and started in 2006.

The villa, which dates back to the mid-18th century, was known as Villa Preziosi and was the residence of Sir Ugo Mifsud when he was Prime Minister between 1924 and 1927.

It is thought that it was originally built as a one-storey lodge in the mid-18th century, another storey and side wings having been added over the years.

Now government-owned, Villa Francia will be used for official functions or to host foreign delegations.

Villa Francia will be open for public viewing on September 13.