Below are the Villa’s main historical events since it was acquired by Diana Sei, the company that currently owns the Francesco Morelli foundation. In order to understand the actions undertaken over the years, it is important to highlight that Villa Asquer was purchased with the aim of turning it into a branch of the I.E.D design school. The main restoration and maintenance operations were therefore planned with this goal in mind. However, for strategic and business reasons, Villa Asquer was never turned into a school.
For the 40 years that followed its acquisition by Diana Sei Srl, the villa and its park received several building maintenance and restoration interventions, as well as significant landscape and botanical interventions that shaped its current form and beauty. The entire complex remained for President Francesco Morelli’s private use. This enchantment project, in which he invested considerable cultural and financial resources until his death in 2017, remained separate from his main business activities.
The most ancient set of buildings dates back to the 16th century, as do the adjacent areas, which are also protected under the building’s listed status. It is with noting that all interventions have been carried out with the purpose of improving the site, respecting its original artifacts.
Diana Sei purchased the whole property from the Asquer family, including all the buildings, a forest, and land totaling almost 23 hectares.
Francesco Morelli, President of the Istituto Europeo di Design and director of the buyer company, initially planned to use the villa as the Cagliari branch of his school.
Photographs from the time it was purchased show the condition of the buildings and their surrounding areas at the time. The outdoor areas were overgrown or used as fields or pasture areas, with the exception of the forest on the North side, which would later become the reason why the entire property was declared a landscape conservation area.
The whole complex, save for one building, was in complete disrepair and had been subjected to repeated acts of vandalism and neglect over the years. The buildings were crumbling and the rooves had only survived in certain sections. However, the outline of the original buildings was still visible in certain areas, as were the ancient stone walls and large timber roof trusses. The main elements of the building originally used as a residence, such as the turrets, exterior galleries and annexed building, though still in disrepair, were better preserved.