Villa Pozzo
Engineer Salvatore Sale built this Liberty villa for cheese exporter Francesco Caria in 1927, at the end of Viale Caprera in Sassari’s Cappuccini quarter — today the city’s best-known surviving example of residential Art Nouveau.
At a glance
Villa Pozzo stands at the end of Viale Caprera in the Cappuccini quarter, a neighbourhood that between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw the construction of several Liberty buildings for Sassari’s prosperous professional class. Designed in 1927 by engineer Salvatore Sale from Padria and completed around 1929, the villa was commissioned by Francesco Caria, an entrepreneur who had made a fortune exporting Sardinian pecorino to the United States. After a succession of owners and long periods of neglect, the Sardinian Region opened it to the public on the occasion of FAI open days in 2025, revealing its Liberty interiors for the first time in years.
Key facts
- Architect: Salvatore Sale (engineer, from Padria)
- Construction: 1927–1929
- Style: Liberty / European eclecticism
- Original patron: Francesco Caria (pecorino cheese exporter to the USA)
- Later owners: Ardisson family; Pozzo family (who gave it the current name)
- Current owner: Sardinia Region (since 2015)
- Address: Viale Caprera, Cappuccini, Sassari
- GPS: 40.7284° N, 8.5657° E — Google Maps
History
Francesco Caria married Maria Secchi Corda in June 1927. The couple had returned from a three-month honeymoon travelling by car through Italy before Caria initiated the villa project, entrusting the design to Salvatore Sale, an engineer from the nearby village of Padria. The resulting villa reflected the couple’s prosperous social standing and the eclectic Liberty taste that was still fashionable in Sassari at a time when the rest of Italy was moving toward Rationalism.
A series of misfortunes followed the 1929 stock market crash, forcing the sale of the villa to the Ardisson family. It later passed to the Pozzo family, who gave it the name it carries today. The Sardinian Region purchased the property in 2001 for approximately 1.3 million euros. A brief occupation by the Provincial Tourism Board ended in 2006 when the villa was abandoned. The Region regained direct ownership in September 2015 and announced a €5 million restoration plan. Following restoration, the building was opened to the public for the FAI open days in March 2025.
What you see
Villa Pozzo is set back from Viale Caprera behind its garden, the Liberty decoration of its facade visible through the mature planting of the Cappuccini quarter. Salvatore Sale worked in the eclectic Liberty tradition typical of Sardinia in the late 1920s, combining a free architectural composition with the surface ornament characteristic of the period. Inside, decorated ceilings and period detailing survive from the original commission — features that the 2025 FAI opening gave the public a rare chance to see.
The Cappuccini neighbourhood provides an instructive context: a walk along Viale Caprera and Viale San Francesco passes several Liberty villas built over the same decades, showing how Sassari’s professional bourgeoisie chose to live at the turn of the century.
Practical information
- Exterior: visible from Viale Caprera; the garden restricts close approach
- Interior access: limited to special events (FAI open days and regional cultural events) — check the Sardinia Region website for schedules
- Time needed: 15–30 minutes including a walk along the Cappuccini Liberty quarter
Getting there
Villa Pozzo is at the end of Viale Caprera in the Cappuccini neighbourhood, roughly 1.5 km southwest of Sassari’s historic centre. From Piazza d’Italia, take Via Roma south and then Via Cavour to reach Viale Caprera. Local ATP buses serve the Cappuccini quarter. Street parking is available along the viale.
Nearby
- Villa Sisini — Angelo Marogna’s 1913 Liberty villa on Viale San Francesco, 5 minutes on foot
- Cappuccini Liberty quarter — several early twentieth-century villas along Viale Caprera and Viale San Francesco
- Piazza d’Italia — Sassari’s main square with the Palazzo della Provincia, 15 minutes on foot
Sources
- La Nuova Sardegna: Cinque milioni per far rinascere Villa Pozzo (2015)
- Storia di Sassari blog: Villa Caria poi Pozzo in Viale Caprera
- City&City Magazine: Sassari riscopre il Liberty (2025)
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