Villa Leoni, a scheduled building in St Julian’s has been spared from the developers after the application to convert the house into a seven-storey hotel was refused by the Planning Authority.

Villa Leoni is a Grade 2 scheduled building and is found in an Urban Conservation Zone. The application proposed a hotel that would be seven storeys high overlooking Telghet Birkirkara and six storeys high on the opposite side in Triq il-Kbira.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage said that the proposal didn’t meet the heritage value of the villa.

Villa Leoni is just one of the remaining magnificent old residences found around the islands, having stunning gardens and an impressive façade. This grand house with distinctive green shutters can be found right next to the City of London Pub, if you want to take a peek, and it looks like it's set to stay, at least for now!