Jacques Couëlle's Villas become the Costa Smeralda® Museum

The legacy of the visionary French architect lives on in a new cultural hub

The Jacques Couëlle Villas in Monti Mannu, located in Abbiadori, just outside Porto Cervo, are among the most extraordinary examples of organic architecture on the northeastern coast. Created in the 1960s from the imagination of French architect Jacques Couëlle, they were conceived as true habitable sculptures, blending seamlessly with the granite rocks and Mediterranean scrub.

Villa Couelle di Monti Mannu, Arzachena -

From the Aga Khan to Villa La Grotta

In 1962, when Prince Karim Aga Khan IV launched his project in Sardinia, Couëlle was appointed to the Architecture Committee alongside Luigi Vietti, Michele Busiri Vici, and other designers. The goal was to create an international destination without erasing the landscape identity of Gallura.

Nicknamed “an-architect” by Prévert, Couëlle arrived in Sardinia with a vision that drew on sculpture, archaeology, botany, and anatomy: to build according to the laws of nature. After his experience in Castellaras-le-Neuf, on the Bay of Cannes, he brought to northeastern Sardinia an organic design language characterized by curved walls, irregular volumes, natural materials, and spaces conceived in relation to the terrain, the sun, the wind, and the movements of those who would inhabit them. Couëlle, who considered himself more of a sculptor than an architect, envisioned homes devoid of conventional geometries: undulating walls, irregular windows, cave-like spaces, and materials that seem to emerge directly from the earth.

After his work on theHotel Cala di Volpe, built with his son Savin, he devoted himself to the Monti Mannu complex. Here, in 1968, he built Villa La Grotta, which was intended to become his own home. Construction continued in the following years, giving shape to a group of residences integrated into the landscape.

The house was not conceived as a building resting on the ground, but rather as a continuation of nature: a sort of primordial refuge, in which the distinction between interior and exterior seems to dissolve.

piscina Villa Coulle

The Rebirth of 2026

The story has taken a recent turn. In May 2026, the Monti Mannu complex, covering approximately 30,000 square meters, was formally transferred to the assets of the Municipality of Arzachena. The municipal project calls for the creation of the Costa Smeralda® Museum, designed to tell the architectural and cultural history of the area, featuring exhibition spaces, educational activities, and gathering places.

During the recent FAI Days across Italy event, the villas were opened to the public for the first time, with great success.

Villa Couelle - Ph Isabella Chiodino

A Little-Known History

There is also a lesser-known chapter in the history of the villas. One fascinating detail concerns the Azara family: Nicola, the architect’s assistant and caretaker, worked on the villas beginning in the 1960s. His son Pietro preserved their memory and construction secrets for decades.