Villa Certosa, the Sardinian residence of Silvio Berlusconi, has appeared in all the newspapers of 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 several times since from 2003 to 2010. To the British Tony Blair he dedicated a pyrotechnic show that ended with the letters, written in the sky, “Viva Tony”. Former Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek had it worse: he considered his days in the mansion to have been a big mistake after seeing pictures published of him surrounded by women, naked and with an erect penis.
The famous summer house of the late Italian minister, scene of international meetings and also of the great sexual scandals that brought him to court, will soon have other owners. As reported by the Financial Times, the five children and heirs of Berlusconi, the result of his two marriages with Carla D all’Oglio and Veronica Lario, have decided to put it up for sale through the Milan real estate Dils, which will offer it directly to billionaires. They expect to raise around 500 million euros, although negotiations could start from 300 million. Potential buyers include American, Saudi, Emirati and Indian tycoons, with tours set to begin in February.
The reason is the enormous maintenance costs of the multiple properties that il Cavaliere gathered over the years. Berlusconi’s children have taken this decision after seeing the million dollar bills involving all the properties that their powerful father bought. Last year, before his death, all together added 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 stretches for no less than the barbarity of 4,500 square meters. 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 tycoon was built Once, the neighbors, frightened by the fire, called the fire department. In the 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 the year 300 before Christ…” Berlusconi explained to 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 came to offer 450 million dollars, while other information indicated that a Spanish businessman then offer 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 tycoon’s five children are Marina, Pier Silvio, Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi Berlusconi. The two first-born are the result of his first marriage, and they are also the most benefited by the inheritance, since they both accumulate 53% of the shares of Fininvest, the conglomerate that brings together all the family’s companies. The other three have shared the remaining 47%, following the will of the tycoon, who wanted to privilege the elderly because they are the ones who have been most involved in his businesses.
Berlusconi’s descendants will not sell all the real estate, but will keep some of his famous villas. The main house in Arcore, on the outskirts of Milan, will remain in the hands of the family. In addition, Marina Berlusconi wants to buy Villa Campari, on Lake Major, from the rest of her siblings. Barbara Berlusconi will do the same with Villa Macherio, another residence near Milan where Veronica Lario’s three children grew up.
