A Marsaxlokk palazzo that was once home to Edward de Bono the father of lateral thinking, has been placed under a conservation order after signs of neglect and squatting were observed on the historic property.
Palazzo Marnisi, said to date back to 1650, sits on high ground overlooking Marsaxlokk bay and is surrounded by agricultural land.
The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage said that a site inspection revealed that the property had suffered extensive vandalism, squatting and abandonment.
“Artefacts of clear heritage value have also been found broken and others were possibly stolen,” the superintendence said in a statement.
Photo: Superintendence of Cultural Heritage
Photo: Superintendence of Cultural Heritage
Photo: Superintendence of Cultural Heritage
Photo: Superintendence of Cultural Heritage
By issuing a conservation and protection order on the palazzo, the SCH said it was ordering the owners to safeguard the building and protect it from vandalism and unwarranted access. Any work carried out on the building to this aim will also have to be approved by the SCH.
The building owners have 15 days to respond to the order after notification.
On sale for €10 million
De Bono rented Palzzo Marnisi for many years and it served as his registered address in Malta. He lived overseas for a large part of his life but was known to have returned to Malta in his final years and resided in Rabat during that time.
A year after he died in 2021, The Guardian revealed that while de Bono had always appeared to be a very wealthy man, his will featured only £11,900 in his estate.
The Remax listing advertising Palazzo Marnisi for saleThe palazzo appears to be up for sale for €10 million. It is being advertised as a “one-off” property that “needs to be viewed to be truly appreciated”. The listing doesn’t specifically name the property as Palazzo Marnisi but the pictures included in the listing match known images of the building.
According to the listing, although the internal area of the palazzo spans some 260 sqm, the entire plot up for sale is 37,1000 sqm in total, with 18,000 sqm or 16 tumoli of workable land.