The owners of the historical Melita Gardens in Balzan have decided to part with the extensive property after more than 125 years in the family due to lack of agreement on its use.

With the President of Malta as its next-door neighbour, and abutting San Anton Gardens, the price tag of the renowned and popular catering establishment, sprawling 2,230 square metres, is €5.5 million.

Robert Desira Buttigieg, one of the owners and agents, said that while it was “sad” to let it go, the family had never lived in the building and it had no sentimental value for the 11 cousins who now jointly owned it.

“If you asked my father, one of three siblings to whom it originally belonged, he would definitely have said we will never sell it,” Desira Buttigieg said. “But it had to go.”

Since an 18-year lease ended last July and Melita Gardens was returned to the family, it remained shut because no one could agree on what to do with the space.

“We are 11, multiplied by two,” he said, including the spouses in the mix, “ranging in age between 25 and 75, with divergent ideas and opinions”.

If you asked my father, one of three siblings to whom it originally belonged, he would definitely have said we will never sell it- Robert Desira Buttigieg

Even though it had been a major success and a cash cow, the lease was not renewed, and the lessees had retired at a young age.

Desira Buttigieg said there was talk between his family members of renting it out, but it got complicated, and “it was decided it was better to sell”.

He has since been inundated with interest, which “exploded” when a ‘For Sale’ sign was recently hung on the façade.

Desira Buttigieg is constantly receiving plans from potential buyers, some having already engaged foreign designers and drawn up proposals, mostly to keep the premises as a catering establishment.

He acknowledged that, at some point in their lives, everyone had visited Melita Gardens, knew of it and made memories there.

The garden has trees from pre-war times.

Originally a residence

While it was originally a residence, Melita Gardens had operated as a little bar, pizzeria and games room for a while, using up only about a tenth of the property.

Then, it was radically changed by one big company that turned the whole site, which also includes an orange grove, into a multi-purpose venue, with five distinct areas, each often hosting separate events at the same time and always buzzing with energy.

Three separate entrances lead to each area of the property, which is all interconnected.

Such is its versatility, the owner said, that prospective investors considered it for a boutique hotel and even a home.

“However, not one stone could be laid on the heritage property”, Desira Buttigieg pointed out, adding that “it is part of San Anton Palace”, the presidential residence, which was built in the time of the Order of the Knights of St John in the early 17th century.

The idea of constructing demountable cabins as bedrooms in the garden, which has trees from pre-war times, has also been proposed, he noted.

It is said that part of the building, originally the mistresses’ lodgings, had played a raunchy role in palace life back in the day, and is connected to it via a tunnel that is no longer accessible, offering an escape route from the rigours and formality of being a Grand Master.

It was rebuilt in the late 19th century in its current Art Noveau architectural style, a typical residence of Maltese aristocracy of the time, and today stands as a survivor of those villas that once adorned most of Balzan, with their extensive gardens.

During the war, it had already served as a little hotel as indicated by a sign that is still hanging on the wall.

Since it shut last July, every single item in it, including the crockery and cutlery, as well as kitchen equipment, even broken pieces of furniture, down to the panelling and cushions, were sold, and it has been left completely empty and dilapidated.

But the prestigious property’s potential is there for the taking.