Italy
oldest and most established resorts are scattered either side of Cagliari. Old, of course, is a relative term, as most of them were developed in the 1960s and 1970s, even though some of the villages had ancient origins. The landscape here is more visibly built than in Costa Smeralda, and not to the same standard, but the seascape is just as amazing in Villasimius, east of Cagliari. Beaches are either expanses of white sand, or tiny coves peppered with craggy outcrops
Ð or both, like Punta Is Molentis, which has a sandy beach on one side and a jagged shore of granite boulders on the other. Properties of every shape and size are
scattered all along the Villasimius promon- tory. The prettiest ones are small villas built to mesh in with their surroundings. They make ample use of stone and tiles and echo the natural ochre, cream and olive green of the southern Sardinian country- side, with clambering vines of fuchsia or bougainvillea providing a dash of colour. Prices are low compared to Costa Smeralda
Ð they range from €2,300 to €5,400 per square metre, according to Italian estate
62 Country Life International, Summer 2011
agents Tecnocasa. Values are roughly the same in Pula,
Santa Margherita di Pula and Chia, three resorts on the opposite side of Cagliari' s wide gulf. Sandwiched between the Medi- terranean and the holm-oak forest of Is Cannoneris, this was once the pulsating heart of Sardinia, home to one of the region's most important Roman cities, Nora. Today, honey-coloured ruins and the later remnants of Spanish fortresses add a touch of magic and people can boat or swim by the crumbling Roman baths. The waters, which run the gamut from palest blue to deep emerald, are home to starfish, sea urchins and, occasionally, sea turtles. In Chia' s Su Giudeu beach, dunes of rich gold sand separate the sea from a sapphire- blue lagoon populated by flamingos. The housing stock is as diverse as the
scenery. Chia has a range of villas of dif- ferent sizes on the hillsides overlooking its six beaches. Santa Margherita, one of the earliest and most upmarket resorts to be developed in the southern portion of the island, has large villas set in dense pine
woodland bordering a 2½-mile long beach. Pula also has a range of modern water-
side villas, and the Sardinian planning authority has just given the go ahead to a (previously stalled) project to develop 240 luxurious villas designed by leading Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas, set in park- land around the Is Molas golf club. They will be priced from €1.3 million and ready for a 2013 delivery (through Immobilsarda, 00 39 0789 909000). But the 19th-century centre of Pula is
also one of the few places where you can find period homes very close to the shore. Among them are some large case campi- danesi, traditional southern Sardinian houses built around a Roman plan, with a large central courtyard giving access to all the main rooms. Many have now been adapted to modern living with passageways linking room to room, and are incredibly popular. Another place where you can find period
houses by the shore is the north-western coastline close to Sassari, Sardinia' s sec- ond-largest city. Just south of Sassari, the town of Alghero was one of the Aragonese
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