Townhouse For Sale In Għarb Gozo Malta

We are pleased to offer this stunning double-fronted townhouse with high ceilings, beautiful traditional Maltese patterned tiles in virtually every room, with well finished detailing throughout, including solid wood panelling in most of the ground floor rooms, adding further character to the property.

An anti-porta with lovely stained glass panels opens onto a welcoming traditional entrance hall with lateral rooms off either side.

One room is currently used as a spacious study and private lounge, and the other bedroom room is currently used as a large dressing room and wardrobe area which in turn leads into an airy bedroom with windows overlooking the bright internal courtyard. Off this room is a modern en-suite bathroom.

This bedroom and the main hallway lead into a bright and spacious area with a traditional cantilever staircase. Off this living space is a guest cloakroom. Onward leads into a snug nook with a door leading to the utility and one-car garage.

The nook opens out onto a spacious combined living-dining kitchen area, with very high ceilings, flooded with light from the courtyard and garden beyond. There is a magnificent pellet stove fireplace in the lounge and several ceiling fans, as well as air-conditioning throughout. New retro-style bakelite switches have also been installed throughout the house.

A custom designed kitchen, with a custom-made solid zinc counter top on a central island, is a chef's dream, with double ovens, a large fridge and seven-burner hob. All kitchen appliances and utility appliances are included with the property.

Outside is a very spacious private courtyard, perfect for outdoor entertaining and dining.

Off this courtyard is a further bedroom with adjacent shower room.

This courtyard in turn leads to a delightful covered seating area and fountain, which in turn leads up to a large garden where one feels peace and completely cut off from the world.

There is ample space for a pool should one be desired.

From the main house the traditional stone staircase leads to a massive bedroom, currently used as an art studio, with an en-suite bathroom with shower.

Off the bedroom there is a walk-in wardrobe, windows overlooking the private courtyard, and a large balcony overlooking the garden. At this level there are large roof terraces and a separate sun terrace also overlooking the garden.

With three possible bedrooms on the ground floor and one on the first floor, this property offers plenty of living space and also scope to extend further on the first floor, where it is possible to add a further two, or even three, en-suite spacious bedrooms, if desired.

The roof areas were all given a new thermal membrane in 2022, and the large spacious rooms offer coolness and comfort during the height of summer. All front facing windows are triple-glazed. For added comfort all doors and windows are also fitted with traditional louvred shutters.

The property includes a one-car garage and includes 25 Solar PV Panels on the roof. Most of the furniture is also included in the price.

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.

FEATURES
Water well
Bath
Bathroom underfloor heating
Combined kitchen and dining area
Spacious rooms
High ceilings
Pellet stove
Balcony
Guest cloakroom
Courtyard
Drawing room
Ceiling fans
Garden, large
Internal stairs
Bright
Mosaic tiles
Ceramic tiles
Veranda, back
Ground Floor Bedroom
En suite Bathroom
En suite Shower
Luxury specifications
Village view
Near bus route
Near amenities
Office
Kitchen appliances
Aircondition, Split system
Heating, Underfloor
Parking, Garage
Storage
Pergola
Landscaped garden
Solar water heater
Solar photovoltaic panels
Fully Furnished