Alghero, Villa Sant'Elia

The building is located outside the town near the Valencia waterfront, in the town called Las Tronas ('the pulpits') because of the cubic shape of some rocks. Once owned by the Piedmontese family Arborio Mella di Sant'Elia, it was sold in 1959 to be used as a hotel.
The villa takes up the medieval castle model, widely used in stately homes and villas built between the 19th and 20th centuries, with more or less obvious references to historic architecture.
Villa Sant'Elia is unique mainly because of its unusual location near the sea and has undergone an elevation of two floors that have altered its original volume and appearance. Despite this, the set of medieval references such as the blackbirds that conclude the building's ledge, the windows with pointed arches and the traditional turret are still perfectly visible. However, there are also classical decorations in the smaller and lower body, such as the eardrums that dominate some openings.

History of studies
A review of studies can be found in the bibliography relating to the fact sheet in the volume of the “History of Art in Sardinia” on nineteenth-century architecture (2001).

Bibliography
S. Serra, Villas and Palaces of the Nobility in Sardinia, Cagliari, AM&D, 1997, pp. 32-33;
F. Masala, Architecture from the Unification of Italy to the end of the 20th century. Nuoro, Ilisso, 2001, sheet 14.

How to get there
Alghero is located about 37 km from Sassari, along the SS 127 bis.