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Vittoriosa townhouse to funhouse
Gattaldo spent 18 months restoring and decorating a small townhouse in Vittoriosa, which he lets out through the internet as a holiday home. He calls it ‘Indulgence Divine’, taking inspiration from the town’s history of religion and excess. Photography: ALAN CARVILLE – Gattaldo
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‹We didn’t paint the walls, but left them as a bare backdrop to the colourful textiles and strong pieces of furniture. I designed these and had them made by craftsmen.›
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attaldo took as his inspiration for the interior design of this typical smallscale townhouse the historical links that Vittoriosa has had with religion – the seat of the archbishop was here before Valletta was built – and excess of all sorts. Yet the design itself is spare, relying on simple but exceptional forms and highlighted with zinging colour. There is certainly no dark mahogany, no crimson damask or scarlet velvet and gilded pelmets. It is all very serene, a good holiday base for popping out and walking the surrounding streets or taking trips to different parts of the island. Gattaldo does not live here himself. The house was bought, restored and designed with one aim in mind: that of letting it out to a certain kind of holiday-maker, the kind that wants something a little different to a run-of-the-mill holiday flat, a megafive-star international or even a boutique hotel. The house, which he calls Indulgence Divine, is publicised through the internet to a target market of media professionals, the field in which he himself has worked, first in Milan and then in London, for the last two decades or so – currently as an freelance art director. Gattaldo has intertwined the rich themes of history – he is particularly fascinated with the fact that the seat of the Inquisition is just a few corners away – with a look that is markedly contemporary, complete with turquoise sofa, funky white open wardrobe and a spiral staircase in metal, that descends into the living area. That wardrobe, a curious thing that is a mix of the world of Jimi Hendrix and 21stcentury Berlin, is his favourite piece. “I think it’s
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the piece de resistance in this house,” he says. “Of course, it would be totally impractical in a proper home. But for holidays and brief stays, it’s fun. I designed it and had it made for short adventures.” Gattaldo bought the house with his partner Mike Livingstone, around three years ago. They had bought and restored a similar house in Valletta already, also used for holiday guests, and wished to repeat the successful formula. They know their market of mainly British travellers, in search of something quirky and different, quite well by now. “We fell in love with this house,” Gattaldo says. “It was built in the 16th century, and has a good aura about it. When Mike and I travel, we look for places to stay which somehow enhance our experience of the place. We wanted to create something that would do the same for visitors to Malta, and that meant the house had to be in a busy hub of local life – not popular with tourists, necessarily, but certainly busy with the lives of the people who live there yearround. We didn’t want an upmarket part of town where everything is uniform and tediously coordinated and neat, but a place with colour and character, with spirit.” Furnishing the house in the spirit of days gone by would have given it heaviness completely at odds with the light-hearted spirit of adventure that Gattaldo wished to infuse it with. “I wanted to breathe new life into the house while respecting its interesting history,” he says. “We didn’t paint the walls, but left them as a bare backdrop to the colourful textiles and strong pieces of furniture. I designed these and had them made by craftsmen. Once they understood why I wanted such ‘strange’ things, they were more than happy to work on something so different. >p22
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‹I wanted the place to have the right kind of atmosphere. The average holiday rental tends to be more of a romance-killer.›
>The white table with curvy legs is inspired by a traditional Victorian design, complete with Carrara marble top, but it couldn’t be less like something you would find in a greatgrandmother’s bedroom.” The doors, windows and spiral staircase were also made by craftsmen. There are a few pieces of furniture which Gattaldo found in antique shops, like the French Liberty bed, but most of the furniture is bespoke or altered in some way in line with his inspiration. The house would never have been this small to start with. Townhouses in the 16th century were large enough to accommodate an extensive household of family, servants and slaves, but then over time and multiple inheritances they were divided into much small dwellings. You can see where doors and windows have been closed off or opened afresh, and the original line of the architecture can sometimes be seen from the street. This house, its neighbour and the shop beneath started life as one large house. The bedroom in Gattaldo’s house was originally a chapel and there is votive maritime graffiti on the walls, faint but there still. In the bathroom, glass mosaic tiles glitter in the morning sun, catching the drops of water from a shower big enough for two. >p24
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>“The double shower was a bit of a fetish of mine because the whole rationale behind this property is that it’s a romantic place to stay, a place for a couple of people to indulge,” Gattaldo says. “I wanted the place to have the right kind of atmosphere. The average holiday rental tends to be more of a romance-killer.” Taking the house from purchase to finish was a time-consuming process that brought Gattaldo over to Malta for extended periods of supervision and organisation. First, the raw material had to be uncovered from beneath layers of rough-and-ready
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or unsympathetic attempts at modernisation. Despite the restricted space, a large family lived there for many years, in what must have been cramped conditions. Then just before Gattaldo and Livingstone bought it, somebody decided that it would make a good coffeehouse and had begun the conversion work already. >p26
‹Most holiday rentals make you want to spring out of bed and hit the road right away, but this one is like having a boutique hotel all to yourself – though without the room service.›
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‹With its ice-white, high gloss kitchen, its funky dining furniture and its faded turquoiste Murano glass chandelier, this place certainly does intrigue visitors.›
>“But some of the restoration wasn’t at all up to standard,” Gattaldo says. “I don’t think it was supervised by an architect. So we had to undo everything that harmed the character and fabric of the building and try and bring it back as much as possible to its original state, using traditional materials and skills. That took some time, but we used an architect who specialises in restoration, which was crucial because working with this kind of old building throws up all sorts of dilemmas and situations. We designed it with holiday living in mind, introducing more light and making sure that the space both inspired and intrigued.” With its ice-white, high gloss kitchen, its funky dining furniture and its faded turquoiste Murano glass chandelier, this place certainly does intrigue visitors. It helps, too, that there is a roof terrace for evening drinks, breakfast in the warm weather. Most holiday rentals make you want to spring out of bed and hit the road right away, but this one is like having a boutique hotel all to yourself – though without the room service. Indulgence Divine is for two people only, who can cook for themselves or are happy to eat out at one of the many restaurants and cafes nearby. It has WiFi (of course; its clientele are mainly media people), a
music system with iPod connectivity, a 32” flat-screen television with digital cable, a telephone, books to read, and a fully equipped kitchen. Your bed-linen is changed weekly (more often if specified), fresh towels are on hand, and guests find a welcome pack waiting for them – after they are picked up from the airport. There is no smoking, no pets are allowed and children are frowned upon as the space is not suitable for them. www.indulgencedivine.com