Villa Lauri is an early 20th-century Neoclassical townhouse in Birkirkara, Malta. The villa was built as a private family residence. Part of the property is privately owned, while most of it belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. At one point the Franciscan friars named their part of the property as Dar Frate Francesco and was later renamed a number of times. The building has primarily served as a shelter for the homeless.
Since the early 1980s the friars converted their residence into a home for local minors with social difficulties. It later served as a residence for unaccompanied child refugees, from 2001 till 2006. A chapel known as Blessed Nazju Falzon Chapel was inaugurated in early 2001, within the building.
The home was then re-inaugurated by Lawrence Gonzi after extensive structural work. The interior of the building was modified, however keeping the original façade. It was renovated again in 2006 to host migrant families, but the home has been shut down since 2010. The chapel closed in early 2017. It is currently undergoing renovation.
History
Villa Lauri was completed in 1945 (A.D. MCMXLV) as a residential building, at 55 [Don Gaetano] Mannarino Road in Birkirkara, BKR 08. Part of the property became in possession of the Roman Catholic Church and has since then been administered by the Order of Friars Minor (OFM).
The villa has an imposing façade and was one of the first structures to be built on the present road. Other buildings were constructed in the period when the area saw a community growth, as Malta was a British colony.
The oldest still standing building in the area is found round the corner of the villa in Filippo Borgia Street, that is the Tal-Wejter Tower, which was built during the Order of St. John. Evidence of the early growing population in the areas during the British period is some of the surrounding buildings and structures such as the Birkirkara Station, the now Birkirkara Station Garden, and a number of cinemas, including the close by Roxy Cinema.
Home
After the villa was sold from the original owners and large part of the property became in possession of the church, the property of the church was named Dar Frate Francesco by the Franciscan Friars.
In 1981 the residential part of the house was modified to accommodate youth with social difficulties that may face social problems for multiple reasons. Since then the main part of the building has served as a home generally for youth, with the exception for a short lived home for African migrant families. The home opened its doors for the youth in 1981, on the initiative of the founder Adrijan Cachia (OFM). During its mission as a home over 600 youth (between 10 and 13 years) residents have received temporal stay at the villa and admittance was irrelevant to religious belief of the clients. It was administered by two Roman Catholic priests and a number of secular workers. Cachia was the first director of the home and was later succeeded by Father P. Eddie Pace (OFM), and last was Father John Abela. The youth were provided with a bedroom (alone or shared) and access to most of the house as common space. The house provided for the needs of the residents, such as a better alternative in the lack of family environment and a social worker as a social reference support. This aimed to prepare the youth for independent living. More government funds, for works and service, were given in 1994. On 9 January (1998) Giacomo Bini, the Minister General of the OFM, was received by Pace at the building for breakfast.