Is a Villa really a Villa?

Having lived on the beautiful island of Mauritius for some time I have realised that there is a mystifying connotation to the word ‘villa’. The term villa is ambiguous, misused and subject to regional differences of interpretation. It means different things to different people and for most it would be very grand to own a villa.

So is a villa necessarily bigger, better and smarter than a house and how does it stack up in the overall pecking order of housing types? In the nomenclature of housing types in Mauritius you will also find chateaus, country houses, large houses, manors, mansions and bungalows.

So what is a villa? Synonyms commonly used for ‘villa’ include a ‘country residence’ or ‘estate’, any imposing or pretentious residence, especially one in the country or suburbs maintained as a retreat by a wealthy person, a chateau, country house, large house, manor, mansion, summer house and vacation home.

If you are confused by all this, don’t feel alone because so is Google and the other Internet search engines. If you list a property in Mauritius and probably in most other exotic destinations and use the word ‘villa’ to describe the property you will attract far more searches than from people searching for houses on the web.

The August 2009 Google stats have revealed that “Villas in Mauritius” attracted 2.2 times more searches than “Houses in Mauritius”.

Some research reveals that a villa was originally a Roman upper-class rural home, especially in Italy and Southern France. In the Roman Villas, the dwelling quarters consisted of several low buildings, including recreation facilities and lodgings for the servants.  After the fall of the Roman Empire, a ‘villa’ became a small, fortified farming compound. The farmhouse type villa (villa rustica) had barns, orchards, and vineyards, and the type used as a pleasure retreat (villa urbana) had formal gardens adorned with fountains and sculptures.

The term gradually evolved through medieval times into meaning luxurious, upper-class country homes. In the early 18th century the English took on the term and soon ‘villas’ dotted the River Thames valley. The more conventional understanding of a ‘villa’ was that it had extended wings of rooms all opening onto a linking portico, or even to an enclosed courtyard. Roman writers often referred to the self-sufficiency of their villas, where they drank their own wine and pressed their own oil.

The modern interpretation of ‘villa’ can refer to a detached dwelling and in the 19th century ‘villa’ came to mean any suburban house that was free-standing, as opposed to a 'terrace' of joined houses. After the First World War, the suburban ‘villa’ became a ‘bungalow’ and this term is still used in both Australia and New Zealand. In Mauritius ‘bungalow’ often refers to a second or holiday home on the sea. But people living in inland country homes or ‘chateaus’ could have a ‘bungalow’ which is indeed a ‘villa’.

The villa concept lives on in southern Europe, where villas are associated with upper-class social position and lifestyle. Most British holiday makers would expect a villa to be a luxurious, modern and well equipped home, usually in a warm climate such as Florida or Spain. If it is a Florida villa they would expect a home that is near the beach with a swimming pool and air conditioning, and extras such as games rooms and plasma TVs.

The word ‘bungalow’ has also climbed up the pecking order.  The name derives from a Hindi word meaning ‘a house in the Bengali style’ and came into English during the era of the British administration of India. In the UK the name became a derisive one because of the spread of poorly built bungalow-type houses there. The style, however, gained popularity in housing developments of American towns during the 1920s. Its general design—with high ceilings, large doors and windows, and shade-giving eaves or verandas—makes it especially well suited for hot climates, and bungalows are still frequently built as summer cottages or as homes in warm regions.

A chateau on the other hand is defined by “dictionary.net” as a castle or a fortress in France and a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor; a gentleman's country seat; also, particularly, a royal residence. The chateaus found in Mauritius were influenced by colonial architecture and some fine examples still exist, such as:

• Chateau de Labourdonnais - Privately-owned colonial house dated 1850 in Goodlands.
• Chateau Bel-Ombre - Private property, dated 1776, part of the Bel-Ombre Sugar Estate.
• Chateau de Mon-Plaisir - Built in 1735 by Mahe de Labourdonnais and around which the Pamplemousses gardens were created.
• Chateau du Reduit - Built in 1778, actual residence of the President of the Republic of Mauritius situated in the Reduit area.
• Chateau de Villebague - Built in 1740, house of Mahe de Labourdonnais. Now private property.
• Eureka - Colonial house built in 1830 at Moka, on the road from Port-Louis to Curepipe. Now a museum.
• Riche-en-Eau:  - Colonial house, part of the Riche-en-Eau Sugar Estate.

So how do we make sense of these terms in Mauritius? We would suggest that the housing pecking order should be as follows:

• A ‘chateau’ must be at the top, although it would be extremely rare for any of them to come onto the market. This will be followed by:
• A ‘villa’, which is a large detached home with large verandas and entertainment areas. A villa must have a swimming pool and be enclosed with a stone boundary walls. A villa could be located on or close to the sea or could be country house.
• A ‘bungalow’ is a holiday home or second home located on the sea. It could also be a small house or cottage.
• A ‘house’ could include combinations of all the above and would more often than not be located on the sea.

Whatever you understand the meaning of ‘villa’ to be, there is no doubt that it is and will remain fashionable to own or stay in a villa.

The full article can be viewed at http://www.fineandcountry.mu/property/press/is-a-villa-really-a-villa-the-mauritius-experience-75