A Maltese townhouse is one of the island’s most distinct types of property. The traditional homes typically feature a wooden balcony, or galleria, in front of the street and are usually found within the centre of older towns and villages. They’re also known for their original features, including stone slab ceilings and distinctively patterned floor tiles that adorn every room.
Gozo Malta Real Estate: Finding Your Island Escape
While most are still in a state of disrepair, the government offers incentives to preserve these buildings—with lower stamp duty fees for buyers buying heritage properties. More and more of these structures are being restored, despite the fact that it can be an expensive feat. But the effort is worth it. “These houses, when properly maintained, can tell us a lot about how our ancestors lived,” photographer Adrian Borg told Dezeen. “They are treasures that should not be discarded.”
The typical layout of a maltese townhouse consists of two or more storeys with rooms on either side of the central hallway. The first floor often has bedrooms, while the ground level is reserved for a kitchen, dining room and living room. A staircase usually leads to the bedrooms on both sides of the house, and wrought iron balustrades decorate the indoor stairway. The patterned floor tiles that characterise these structures were once crafted individually, with each room having a unique pattern—but now you can find good reproductions for quite elevated prices.
The new design of the DAAA Haus, designed by local studio 3DM Architecture, saw the courtyard area reduced in size to accommodate a sheltered connection between the front and back rooms—which allows natural light to spill into the interior. The result is a minimal space that celebrates the heritage elements that make the property so distinctive, while remaining functional and contemporary.