Villa Certosa, Silvio Berlusconi’s Sardinian residence, has appeared in all the newspapers in the world. The most illustrious international guests passed through there, starting with José María Aznar and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and continuing with George Bush or Silvio Berlusconi’s great friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was his guest on various occasions from 2003 to the 2010. He dedicated a pyrotechnic show to the British Tony Blair that ended with the letters, written in the sky, “Long live Tony.” Former Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek had it worse: he considered that his days in the mansion were a big mistake after seeing photographs published in which he appeared surrounded by women, naked and displaying his erect penis.
The famous summer residence of the late former Italian prime minister, scene of international meetings and also of the major sexual scandals that brought him to court, will soon have other owners. As reported by the Financial Times, Berlusconi’s five children and heirs, the result of his two marriages with Carla Dall’Oglio and Veronica Lario, have decided to put it up for sale through the Milanese real estate agency Dils, which will offer it directly to billionaires, hoping raise the figure of 500 million euros for it, although negotiations could begin at 300 million. Potential buyers include American, Saudi, Emirati and Indian tycoons, and visits will begin in February.
The reason is the enormous maintenance costs of the multiple properties that Il Cavaliere amassed over the years. Berlusconi’s offspring have made this decision after seeing the million-dollar bills involving all the properties that his powerful father bought. Last year, before his death, all of them added up to 24 million a year just in maintenance costs, such as repairs or gardening, and in 2022 he paid 1.3 million in electricity alone.
And the jewel in the crown is Villa Certosa, which spans no less than a whopping 4,500 square metres. It has 68 rooms, 174 parking spaces, direct access to the sea, several swimming pools, a medicinal garden, a Greco-Roman style amphitheater, an underwater grotto, an artificial mountain surrounded by olive trees and even a fictional volcano that the magnate had built. . On one occasion, neighbors, frightened by the fire, called the fire brigade. In recordings that a luxury prostitute gave to the police, the former prime minister boasted of having found 30 Phoenician tombs. “Here is the ice cream factory, here is the skeleton of a whale, here we discovered 30 Phoenician tombs from 300 BC…”, Berlusconi told his guests.
It is one of the most luxurious private mansions in the world for which, according to the Italian press, in 2009 a sheikh from the Arab Emirates offered 450 million dollars, while other information indicated that a Spanish businessman later offered him 400 million. . Berlusconi always rejected it. But now, his children believe that it is time to get rid of this house in the town of Porto Rotondo, on the paradisiacal Costa Smeralda.
The magnate’s five children are Marina, Pier Silvio, Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi Berlusconi. The two first-born children are the result of their first marriage, and they are also the ones who benefit the most from the inheritance, since they both enjoy 53% of the shares of Fininvest, the conglomerate that brings together all the family companies. The other three have shared the remaining 47%, following the magnate’s will, who wanted to privilege the elderly because they are the ones who have been most involved in his businesses.
Berlusconi’s descendants are not going to sell all their real estate assets, but will keep some of their famous villas. The main house in Arcore, on the outskirts of Milan, will remain in the hands of the family. Furthermore, Marina Berlusconi wants to buy Villa Campari, on Lake Maggiore, from the rest of her siblings. Barbara will do the same with Villa Macherio, another residence near Milan where Veronica Lario’s three children grew up.
