Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber bin Mohammed bin Thani Al Thani, the Qatari royal best known as the man who bought London, has just solidified his two-decade love affair with the Costa Smeralda. The former Prime Minister of Qatar, nicknamed HBJ, has bought Villa Certosa from the heirs of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for a whopping $395 million.
As reported by Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore, The 66-year-old royal now aims to convert the Sardinian estate overlooking the Gulf of Marinella into a luxury hotel. Originally listed for €500 million ($571 million), Villa Certosa was snapped up for the “bargain price” of “only” €350 million ($395 million), a full €150 million ($176 million) below the original ask. That so-called bargain comes with a catch, though. The estate is so ruinously expensive to run that not even a regular billionaire could comfortably stomach it, only pockets as deep as the Qatar royal family’s. The upkeep alone runs to roughly €8 million ($9 million) a year, the electricity bill came in at €1.3 million ($1.5 million), the property carries a €94 million ($107 million) mortgage, and there is a private desalination plant on site just to keep the taps running.
Spanning roughly 300 acres, the prized estate is set within 120 hectares of land and comes with an artificial volcano and a large amphitheater. A palatial abode for a royal owner, it offers 4,500 square meters of living space with 126 rooms and greenhouses filled with rare orchids. Of course, HBJ’s plans are clear, it won’t remain a private residence but will become a hotel, and it certainly has the room for it. After all, the entire property is about the size of 83 soccer pitches and larger than Vatican City.
Unlike most five-star hotels that have two or three pools, Villa Certosa already flaunts seven, along with a thalassotherapy circuit of five stepped seawater pools. Topping even that are artificial lakes with swans and islands, marketed as Palm Lake and Bio Lake, complete with a floating tiki bar for aperitivi on the water. For sports, there isn’t just one tennis court, as seen in billionaire residences, but a regulation soccer pitch, tennis and bocce courts, a golf course, a helipad, a Greek-style amphitheater, and even a spa.
In terms of out-of-the-ordinary additions, Villa Certosa doesn’t disappoint. There is an anti-nuclear bunker, a grotto-bunker carved into the hill with a sea entrance for guests arriving by boat, and an underground tunnel to the sea, lending the historic home some very James Bond-level features.
The house is as much a celebration of architecture as it is of landscape design. The massive estate boasts a unique Cactus Amphitheater with roughly 2,100 succulents across 500 species; a palm collection of around 1,200 specimens; a Hibiscus Museum with some 5,000 specimens across 850 varieties; a “Garden of Gethsemane” with 150 centenarian olive trees; and a citrus grove of 800 trees across 160 species. It is truly remarkable what Berlusconi did with this palatial abode after buying it in the late 1980s.
Built by architect Gianni Gamondi, the house deserves a trophy of its own, while the incredible gardens deserve an award just as much, thanks to garden historian Rosi Zuliani Sgaravatti. Maintaining a park of nearly 120 hectares is no joke, especially with the main residence, seven villas, dependencies, and cottages. The good part for the rest of us is that, with this acquisition and a hotel in the pipeline, experiencing Villa Certosa may soon be possible without having to shell out almost $400 million.
The Sardinian connection
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim also owns the $300 million superyacht Al Mirqab, which over the years has been regularly spotted along the Sardinian coast. The news that he, and not the Emir of Qatar as was rumored last year, is the buyer is hardly surprising. The 66-year-old royal is known to have snapped up ultra-prime, historic European real estate and luxury hotels, owing in part to his past role heading the Qatar Investment Authority.
But the acquisition of Villa Certosa seems more personal for the man who is worth nearly $5 billion, according to Forbes.
The 436-foot Al Mirqab has been a regular visitor to the ultra-exclusive bays of Porto Cervo and the surrounding Costa Smeralda during the peak Mediterranean summer season. With his company Constellation Hotels already owning iconic properties globally, and with his affinity for the locale, Villa Certosa seems less like another real estate deal and more like his ultimate Sardinian trophy.
