Mark and Trish Mullane painstakingly transformed a derelict Senglea waterfront property into a magnificent home, where every room boasts majestic views of the yacht marina and Grand Harbour’s dramatic fortifications.
Of Cottonera’s cities, Senglea is perhaps the more shy of the three. Huddled on a narrow strip of land between French Creek to the west and Dockyard Creek to the east, it stretches its legs from the Gardjola Gardens to St Michael Bastion. Just six streets wide, it only has one point of access – so whoever goes to Senglea it’s because they want to go there, and not just passing through.
Senglea might be small, yet it is stubborn. The Città Invicta resisted the Ottoman invasion of 1565 and, despite suffering heavy air raids during World War II, which devastated most of the city, it remained standing.
And despite its proportions, the small, thin peninsula has some of the biggest, widest views in Malta, taking in Fort St Angelo, Valletta, Birgu and Kalkara.
It is these same views that left Mark Mullane awestruck.
“I first saw these views years ago, when I was in the Merchant Navy,” he says. “Entering Grand Harbour in 1981 to refuel, I simply couldn’t believe the magnificence of such views.”
32 years passed and the Mullanes started looking for a permanent home abroad.
“We went property hunting in Greece, Spain and Portugal but didn’t find what we wanted,” says Mark’s wife, Trish. “Mark told me how taken he was with his earlier Grand Harbour visit in 1981, so we decided to start looking for a property in Malta.”
In July 2013, Trish travelled to Malta with a friend – as Mark had business commitments – and travelled all over the island looking at properties.
“Then on the last day of our visit, we came down to Senglea and I immediately knew it was the location for us. We then returned every month for five months before we eventually found this beautiful property on the seafront.”
“Everyone told us not to buy in the Cottonera as it was run down,” Mark says. “However as this was to be our permanent home, we didn’t want to live in an area full of expats. We wanted to live within a local community and embrace their culture and way of life. Apart from the stunning views, one of the other things that attracted us to Senglea was its close proximity to Malta’s capital Valletta and the 10-minute trip to get there by either a water taxi or the regular ferry service.
The Senglea property after it was renovated.
“From the outset, the local people here were just lovely – in weeks, we built a strong network of contacts with many over the years becoming close friends. We also feel very safe here – everyone looks out for us.”
Both locals and expats are investing heavily in this area as is the government. Mark and Trish saw the potential of this heavily underrated locality at the time of purchasing a restoration project there, a city which would gain a lot of traction on the real estate market and see an influx of affluent residents and businesses over the years following their purchase. The three cities experienced a gentrification, with substantial investment from both the private and public sector including the opening of an upmarket hotel on the Senglea waterfront in 2018 within a 16th century landmark building, and a government regeneration project including the embellishment of the grand Senglea gate, the regeneration of the main piazza and the restoration of 4,500 square metres of fortification walls and the iconic clock tower.
The house, on a corner in Triq il-Miġja tal-Papa, had been shuttered for decades and was in a state. But the Mullanes saw its potential.
The Senglea property before it was renovated.
“It was a challenge,” Mark says. “We had to replace the roofs with specialist local stonemasons spending seven months just restoring the façade and fitting new stone balconies while paying special attention to reproduce the original design of the corbels and stone architraves. The floors and washroom had to be rebuilt while modern insulation and underfloor heating were installed. We also changed all the woodwork and ironwork.”
Behind the old façade, the house was taken back to its shell before being completely renovated and updated with modern luxuries. The stylish marble bathrooms have media and televisions installed, and throughout the rest of the house, everything – including the lighting, curtains, media, air-con/heating and security system – can be controlled and securely accessed from anywhere throughout the world.
Renovation works under way.The handmade bespoke American walnut kitchen is a perfect marriage of form and function, while the custom-made furniture fits the space beautifully.
“The design was informed by the views,” Mark says. “Every room has spectacular views and the living area is a lovely space that complements the vista from the two new balconies.”
It took Mark and Trish two years to finish their Senglea home – flying back and forth every month to manage their unique project.
The Mullanes recently sold their Senglea home through Perry Estate Agents.
“It was such a difficult and painful decision,” Mark says. “We have three children in the UK where the property market has become very expensive – so we decided to sell our Senglea home in order to give our children the opportunity to buy their own homes. So the pain of selling the house was, in a way, muted by the satisfaction of giving our children a leg-up to buy their own property.”
After meeting several leading real estate companies, “We chose Perry Estate Agents to represent our property as sole exclusive agents. From our first initial meeting, we both felt that Perry truly understood the true value of what we had done and the unparalleled location of our investment. Perry came across as the most professional and took a personal interest with all their team including the directors visiting the property to familiarise themselves with the houses unique systems and outstanding location,” Trish says.
“We were impressed with Perry’s marketing material and they gave us the confidence to trust them with selling our property. Within days we had substantial offers and within a few months, we had the right offer. We sold the house to a lovely couple who fell in love with this extraordinary locality and appreciated the meticulous renovation and unrivalled seafront position of this property.”
But that is not the end of the Mullanes’ love affair with Senglea. In fact, they have purchased another seafront property, which they will be restoring and transforming into a beautiful home.
This article was first published in the 2020 edition of Perry Estate Agents magazine.