GRB1090 A charming spacious and beautifully finished house with large garden and country and distant sea views
Gozo, Għarb
€1,295,000
Overview
Reference GRB1090
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 5
Toilets: 1
Pool: Private
Floors: 3
Year of Construction: 2008
Year of Renovation: 2018
Covered:295m²
Plot:460m²
Uncovered veranda:25m²
We are pleased to offer this bright, light, well finished and immaculately maintained house with open-plan accommodation creating a good flow and lots of entertaining space both inside and out.

Recently built but with all the features of a traditional town house with arched rooms, stained-glass windows, patterned tiles and a magnificent staircase.

Set back from the road, a private courtyard opens into the hallway which leads to a large open-plan dining room and fully-fitted kitchen with oil fired cast-iron heater, central island and breakfast bar, with light units and quartz tops.

The bright living room with feature stone gas fired fireplace opens onto the outside dining area and a large 12 meter tiled swimming pool with plenty of entertainment space and for sun loungers. Beyond this this there is another elevated seating area surrounded by a very pretty garden with a mature olive tree, palms, succulents, bouganvilla, etc, creating some welcome shade during the hot summer months.

The first of five bedrooms is on the ground floor with it's en-suite shower room, alongside a separate guest shower room. There is also a spacious utility/storage room which is accessed from the entrance courtyard.

A beautifully made stone cantilever staircase, one of the nicest we've ever seen, leads up to a spacious hallway. This leads to two further sitting areas off which there are three en-suite bedrooms. At this level there is also a very useful small laundry/storage room.

The rear lounge area leads onto a spacious 25sqm private terrace overlooking the garden and open country views.

A spiral staircase ascends to the fifth bedroom with en-suite bathroom, a small study and a two lounge rooms, which could also be used as a semi-independent suite. Off these rooms there are two tiled roof terraces (c. 80sqm combined), one overlooking the village and church, the other with countryside and distant sea views.

The property is fully equipped with air-conditioning, two fireplaces, insect screens, solar hot water panel, six solar PV Panels (installed 2019), and a separate garage.

A really special property which needs to be viewed to appreciate its' charm and character.

GHARB:

Għarb is a particularly attractive and interesting village and one of Gozo’s oldest. Archaeological excavations have revealed the remains of Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements (not visible today). The Phoenicians were here followed by the Romans and Byzantines. The name L-Għarb, though, is Arabic, suggesting the establishment of an organised community here during Arab domination between 870 and 1090 AD.

Għarb is a traditional village. Its character is distinctly rural and until very recently it was populated almost exclusively by people who worked the surrounding fields in this fertile area of Gozo. They retained an old Maltese dialect, with a rich vocabulary of old words and pronunciations long since discarded by the rest of the population. The people of l-Għarb are also renowned craftsmen mostly famous for the manufacture of the unique “l-Għarb blade”, a traditional sharp knife popularly known as the “Sikkina ta’ l-Għarb”. Even today, L-Għarb is home to blacksmiths, locksmiths, cotton weavers and lace makers, carpenters, and masters in cane-work. Gharb is also known for producing able fishermen, while Għarb shepherds produce the best Gozo Cheese on the Island.

This makes it a very appropriate place for the l-Għarb Folklore Museum, which occupies a historic house in the heart of the village. The 28 rooms contain all sorts of curiosities linked with traditional trades, crafts, and daily life. The building that houses the museum was once home to Frenc Mercieca (1892-1967), popularly known as Frenc ta’ l-L-Għarb, a saintly ‘wise man’ who cured many people with a mix of medicinal herbs and prayer to Our Lady. He left doctors perplexed by his successes and his reputation spread rapidly throughout the Maltese Islands and even abroad.

Also open to visitors is the former home of another saintly resident, Karmni Grima, the woman who heard the voice of Our Lady at Ta’ Pinu and began the devotions that have turned it into Malta’s most important shrine. Ta’Pinu, today a large and important church, lies on the edge of Għarb and is well worth a visit. So too is the hill opposite which has a steep but pleasant path leading to the top, adorned with white marble statues of the stations of the cross.

Also close to Gharb is the Ta’ Dbiegi Crafts Village, where various handicrafts are made and sold. Visitors can watch craftspeople creating mouth-blown glass, Gozo lace, pottery, and filigree, and of course, purchase the results.

Historically, Gharb played an important role in safeguarding Malta. Gharb’s coastal lookouts were, for example, the first to signal the arrival from Sicily of reinforcements for the beleaguered Maltese under the Knights of St. John in the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. During that time of constant threat from the Ottoman Turks and marauding Berbers, the L-Għarb lookouts were crucial, sending smoke signals to Malta to warn of approaching peril.

L-Għarb is the second oldest village parish in Gozo, established in 1679. The old church, known today as “Taż-Żejt”, served as the parish church for fifty years. It is called ‘Taz-Zejt’ (zejt meaning oil) because of a legend that says that an old woman found oil oozing from the side of the church, spread it over her body, and was cured of her ills.

Today’s impressive Parish Church and Collegiate Basilica that dominates the pretty square at the heart of the village was built in 1699 and consecrated in 1729. It is dedicated to the Visit of Our Lady to her cousin St. Elizabeth, popularly known as the Feast of the Visitation. The feast day is on the 31st of May each year and the festa is held on the first weekend of July.

A short and pleasant walk out of the village towards the coastal cliffs is the tiny chapel of St.Demetrius. Legend has it that Turkish raiders once stole the young son of a local lady called Sgugina. After the poor mother wept her distress in front of the sacred altar painting of St Demetrius in the chapel, the story goes that the saint was seen riding his horse out of the painting, charging the Turks and returning Żgugina’s son safely to his mother.

The area around Gharb and St Demetrius’ Chapel is delightful for walking and enjoying the countryside. If you follow the little road along the Wied il-Mielaħ (valley) you will have a lovely meander through the fertile Gozitan countryside before reaching the sea and a dramatic natural rock ‘window’ very much less visited than the iconic Azure Window at Dwejra.

Alternatively, you could just sit peacefully in Gharb’s picturesque village square, admiring the view of the church and the unique hand-carved stone balconies that adorn the village’s oldest homes, and watching the Gozitan world go by.
Facilities
Aircondition, Split system
Landscaped garden
Parking, Garage
Pool, Private
Solar water heater
Features
Balcony, front
Barbeque
Bright
Ceramic tiles
Combined kitchen and dining area
Country view
Courtyard
En suite Bathroom
En suite Shower
Garden, large
High ceilings
Internal stairs
Kitchen appliances
Near bus route
Next to green area
Open plan
Quiet Area
Spacious rooms
Study
Veranda, large
Distances
Amenities: 400 m
Public Transport: 100 m
Sea: 1.5 km
Schools: 600 m
Currency
Contact
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