A modernist villa surrounded by a massive, walled garden, hundreds of years old and full of all kinds of trees, is the place Yana Mintoff feels blessed to call home.

The modernist villa was designed by Mintoff himself towards the end of the 1940s.

“It’s a wonderful place, I’m very lucky to have grown up in such a house,” the daughter of the former Labour leader and prime minister Dom Mintoff told Times of Malta.

The house enjoys Grade 1 protection for its architectural and historical significance but is facing a possible downgrade as developers seek to build a four-storey block next to the property and have appealed the scheduling.

The villa was the family home but also the seat of hot discussions between Mintoff and important global figures, including several British MPs like Lord Carrington, and Cypriot archbishop and first president Makarios III. It’s also where Mintoff died in 2012 at the venerable age of 96.

The architect and civil engineer, who was known as Il-Perit, designed ‘The Olives’ himself towards the end of the 1940s. When he married Moyra de Vere Bentinck in 1947, they moved to a small place on the border between Paola and Tarxien but they soon set their sights on the old, large garden nearby, which back then had only a few structures, mostly garden sheds, together with olive groves, citrus trees and a grapevine.

The four-bedroom villa includes two offices and a large open living/dining room and kitchen. It also had another study room and a washroom which, more recently, have been turned into another bedroom and bathroom.

A portrait of former Labour leader and prime minister (1916-2012).

“My dad’s favourite room must have been one of the offices… he loved being surrounded by books. He also loved the living room where he eventually passed away,” Yana said.

The house is full of family photos and memorabilia. A table with two typewriters on opposite ends stands imposingly in one of the offices. Mintoff would spend hours typing and his secretary would visit regularly. “I vividly recall them working together, arguing and writing letters on these typewriters,” Yana said.

“In the late 1960s, my father asked me to go to Australia with him and I took one of these typewriters with me and typed several ‘thank you’ letters during the trip.”

Mintoff welcomed several dignitaries to his house. One of Yana’s biggest memories are of the discussions held when Lord Carrington was trying to reduce the British financial contribution to Malta for their use of the island as a military base. The former UK Defence Secretary eventually negotiated a defence and financial agreement with Mintoff in 1972, through which he trebled the contribution.

The garden has all sorts of trees, from olives to loquats and grapefruit.

“I was always there. It was interesting to see people from around the world discussing their country’s situation. I learnt many things, including about fighting for your rights,” Yana noted.

“My mother would also attend and she would invariably ask visitors ‘how’s the situation in your prisons?’.  It was very interesting to grow up in such a political atmosphere.”

Mintoff was a great collector of walking canes, some of which are on display. During his last 30 years, he collected canes from around the world. He loved showing them to friends and visitors and discussing their workmanship, possibly unaware that he would eventually need to use them.

“My parents really appreciated good, local workmanship. My father always employed people from Gozo. Even this house was mostly built by Gozitans,” Yana said, adding that her grandfather, Wenzu, was Gozitan.

Dom Mintoff spent hours typing important documents in one of his offices.

Mintoff, who loved nature, also spent a lot of time in the garden, especially when the children were young and after his retirement. Over the years, the family planted various trees, including loquat, plum, white mulberry, bambinella pears, papaya, kiwi, pistachio, passion fruit, grapefruit and prickly pear trees.

A portrait of Mintoff’s mother Ċetta, who was from Cospicua.

They also started growing vegetables and today they have aubergines, chilli peppers, chard, kale, rucola, pumpkins and many herbs. In the past, they also had some animals, including chickens, goats and even a donkey for some time.

“My mother used to look after the garden and the animals…,” Yana reminisced. “Now we take care of the garden ourselves; it’s seven of us,” she said, referring to her, her son and family friends who also live on the premises.

Her sister Anne and her family, who live abroad, visit often. Recently, they needed some help from the Ministry for Agriculture. Their reservoir was damaged last October during the construction works nearby and they could not water the garden for months, until they fixed it out of their own pockets. “We couldn’t wait any longer. And we needed some gardening experts. We had a lot of pruning to do and it’s only now that the trees are recovering,” she said.

The trees and plants on the western border of the garden were especially affected by the construction works and one of the loquat trees died as a result. “This is a national problem. Many people face the same difficulties and have to fight for their rights,” she pointed out.

A collection of walking canes from around the world.

A portrait of a young Mintoff with his father Wenzu, who was a naval officer from Gozo.