Coastal lighthouses and traffic lights turned off, new life for abandoned sites

From the old lighthouse transformed into a super-luxury hotel to the island being reborn as a "tourist destination." This is the new life of structures that for decades served as a haven for sailors, and which today, thanks to technology that has facilitated their decommissioning, tell a different story. In some cases, new activities have already begun, while in others, the process that will ultimately lead to transformation has begun. From Venice to Ponza, from Portofino to Golfo Aranci, and finally to Cagliari. This is the challenge of New Fari, a Cagliari-based company that a few years ago decided to pursue high-end tourism by transforming lighthouses, traffic lighthouses, and other abandoned structures into exclusive residences.

All this through plans and "calibrated investments" for each intervention."

One of the significant structures, as Massimo Balia, partner of New Fari, points out, "is the one at Capo Spartivento, where the lighthouse and the lighthouse keeper's barracks have been transformed into a hospitality facility." The facility, opened in 2008, now employs around thirty people, both full-time and seasonal. A "successful experiment," in the manager's words, given that "the facility remains open 12 months a year and is 50 percent tourist-oriented and the rest events-oriented." The initiatives, "so far the company has invested over €5 million," are not limited to Sardinia. Among the projects, in addition to the renovation of an entire 19th-century block in the medieval Castello district of Cagliari with the opening of the 4-star DH Lawrence hotel with an adjoining early Christian hypogeum, are other interventions. Also in Sardinia, New Fari holds the concession for the ancient structure at Capo Figari, overlooking Golfo Aranci. This semaphore was built in 1890 and chosen by Marconi in the early 1930s "for an experiment that connected a transmitter located near Rome with a receiving station installed at Capo Figari." The project involves organizing the structure into two blocks with suites, a spa, and an event area.

But that's not all, because the thread that links the abandoned traffic lights also extends to the island of San Secondo in Venice. "We're working on the executive project," Balia assures, "which should be completed in early 2026 with a major and significant project." In this case, the project involves the transformation of the 12,000-square-meter islet, which once housed the church dedicated to Sant'Erasmo and then the Serenissima's powder magazine. The works envisaged by the project (the investment is expected to be around three million euros) will involve both the building (built around the year 700 and used as a powder magazine) and the surrounding area. Among other things, the restoration of the fort is also planned. Also changing use will be the lighthouses on the island of Ponza, where the concession is for approximately 17 years and an investment of one and a half million euros is planned, and the one in Portofino in the province of Genoa. The project envisions "the development of a high-tech hospitality model that will be divided into two structures: the Semaforo and the Ex Alloggio Farista, with two large suites equipped with kitchens and living rooms, suitable for families of 4/6 people, a fitness area and a hot tub."

"The idea," Balia concludes, "is to network the facilities, and this can certainly be of significant value."