REAL HOME
A PLACE WITH MEANING Bettina Pace Ricci and Paul Sapienza talk Sarah Muscat Azzopardi through their impressive home renovation – splitting a traditional townhouse dating back to the early 1900s into two contemporary apartments brimming with their distinctly eclectic style and character. P H OTO S B Y A L A N C A RV I L L E
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espite being in their 20s, enthusiastic young couple Bettina Pace Ricci and Paul Sapienza are not new to the property game. Having purchased – and flipped – their first property together in 2014, the couple caught the renovation bug, and haven’t been without a project since. “Once we got onto the property ladder, it’s been one project after another,” reveals Bettina, who works in marketing – so much so that fiancé Paul has turned it into a career. After studying accounting, Paul admits that he quickly realised it wasn’t for him, going on to get a job with a local architecture firm, where he fell into a project management role. After a few years of working on project management and property valuations, he’s now turned his attention to real estate. “I’ve found my niche, and it is definitely property!” The couple’s first property, a maisonette in Sliema, was what Bettina describes as “a real diamond in the rough” and while many questioned their decision to buy it, they saw its potential, and went
on to successfully flip it and sell it on within a year. At the time, Paul says, the property market was experiencing a boom, and the couple’s original intention was to move out of Sliema and buy a place in the countryside. But, as luck would have it, an unconverted townhouse dating back to the early 1900s proved too good to miss. “As soon as we sold it, this property came up for sale at a bargain price. We couldn’t turn it down,” he recalls, explaining that the house which they now call home was three times the size of their previous place, so proved a serious upgrade. Still, as the pair would discover, you can have too much of a good thing. “As we started working on the house, we realised that it was just too much space for what we need,” explains Paul – a realisation that would spur the young couple to change their plans. “Paul originally designed it as a full house, before we decided to split it up into two apartments,” Bettina reveals, describing the process as one that was constantly developing.
“Paul originally designed it as a full house, before we decided to split it up into two apartments.” 88
BLISS
WINTER 2021/2022
