They have hosted lavish feasts for political allies, wild parties, a fake wedding and visits by the likes of Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin and George Clooney.
Now, lavish residences once lived in by Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s three-time prime minister and media tycoon who died in June aged 86, are going on the market, after reports that his five children have agreed to sell most of his property portfolio — worth between €700 million and €800 million.
During his lifetime Berlusconi forged one of the country’s biggest TV networks, turned AC Milan into a sporting superpower and battled through 30 court cases on charges including money laundering, mafia collusion and underage prostitution. He also amassed a property empire that featured ostentatious palazzos, penthouses, lakeside mansions and villas. Among them is Villa Grande, on Rome’s ancient Appian Way and which once belonged to the film and opera director Franco Zeffirelli. Another is Villa Certosa, a mansion in Olbia, on Sardinia’s Emerald Coast, where he dreamed of building a resort with a huge port.
It is believed to be worth up to €250 million and is where he hosted Tony and Cherie Blair in 2004. Wearing a bandana after his latest hair transplant, Berlusconi greeted the couple with a fireworks display which spelled out “Viva Tony”.
Downing Street defended the meeting, claiming the two leaders had discussed serious business including the Iraq War and business deals.
Others who were entertained at the Sardinian retreat included Russia’s President Putin. He and his family were frequent guests at Berlusconi’s properties, where the two politicians hammered out deals between Gazprom and the Italian energy company, Eni, while mixing business with pleasure.
Berlusconi also had homes in Cannes, Antigua and on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. His Villa Campari, a 19th-century dwelling on Lake Como, has 30 rooms, more than Villa Oleandra, a lavish residence on the same lake that is owned by Clooney, who was also previously a guest of Berlusconi.
Villa Gernetto, a vast residence in the Brianza area near Milan, could also be sold. Images of the rolling estate, with its terrace overlooking the river Lambro, went viral when Berlusconi staged a pseudo wedding there last year with Marta Fascina, a Forza Italia MP 53 years younger than him.
Fascina wore a white dress and the couple exchanged rings and vows, but they never formally married, reportedly buckling to pressure from the Berlusconi clan who accused her of trying to edge in on their inheritance. Berlusconi’s children have appeared keen to avoid the fate of the Agnelli family, who are embroiled in a battle over Gianni Agnelli’s business empire, which included Fiat and Juventus football club. He died 20 years ago.
In September the Berlusconis signed off on an accord under which 53 per cent of Fininvest, the family’s holding company, goes to Marina and Pier Silvio and the rest to the younger three siblings: Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi.
Yet the subdivision of Berlusconi’s properties, with Villa Gernetto entrusted to Fininvest, Villa Certosa to the Idra estate company, and numerous properties left to individuals, may yet tip the siblings into an internal war.
Alessandro Riboni, chief executive of Knight Frank in Italy, said the properties would be snapped up by foreign buyers. “If you look at who buys mega properties worth over €100 million they tend to be Americans, French or Russians.”
Up to 150 apartments near Milan and Berlusconi’s two favourite yachts, Morning Glory and Sweet Dragon, are also reportedly up for sale. The newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore estimates the properties are worth a total of €800 million.
Yet the jewel of his empire is not for sale. Villa San Martino in Arcore near Milan, where Berlusconi held “bunga bunga” orgies and where his ashes now rest, is inhabited by his young lover Fascina, 33, who received €100 million after her partner’s death and has resisted reported calls from the Berlusconi children to leave.
“Villa San Martino must stay alive. We want it to remain the venue for business meetings, as well as, of course, the meeting point for our family,” said Marina Berlusconi last month. “It is what [my father] would have wished.”
