Villa Taverna was once good enough for cardinals and kings. But not, it seems, for Tilman Fertitta. The US ambassador to Italy has yet to move into his official diplomatic residence – preferring instead to live aboard Boardwalk, his £110m, 250-foot luxury yacht moored 60 miles away in Civitavecchia.
Built in the 15th century, Villa Taverna sits on seven acres in one of Rome’s most central and exclusive neighbourhoods. The property includes a Roman sarcophagus dating to the 3rd century, ancient Egyptian granite columns, a swimming pool and a tennis court.
And it has happily hosted 23 US ambassadors since 1933.
But according to Italian media reports Amb Fertitta – the flamboyant Texas billionaire who made his fortune in casinos, restaurants, and reality TV – has described the residence as essentially uninhabitable.
For now, the US’ top diplomat in Rome has chosen sea breezes, polished teak, and a helipad.
“Italy is such an extraordinary country with its wonderful people, culture, and history – and its strategic importance to the United States of America,” Fertitta said shortly after Donald Trump appointed him ambassador.
Yet his arrival has ushered murmers from Rome’s elite over his refusal to live like every ambassador before him.
“He’s like Flaiano’s Martian,” one Italian official joked – referring to the satirical story about a gentle alien who lands in Rome, stirs media frenzy, and baffles the locals with his outsider logic.
Fertitta, 67, was born in Galveston and is the grandson of Sicilian immigrants.
In 2017 he bought the NBA’s Houston Rockets and became a familiar face on CNBC’s Billion Dollar Buyer. His business empire, built around Landry’s Inc., spans resorts, casinos, restaurants and theme parks.
His public persona – confident, swaggering, and unapologetically rich – was once described as “brazen to the point of insolence, yet impossible to wave off.”
That persona has now docked itself firmly in the Mediterranean.
From Boardwalk, Fertitta commutes to Rome by helicopter, sometimes landing at the tiny Rome Urbe Airport,
According to officials, he originally requested permission to land in the vast gardens of Villa Taverna.
But airspace over Rome is strictly regulated: only the Pope and the President of the Republic are allowed to fly over the city centre.
And even in the Trump-friendly Italy of Giorgia Meloni, cutting down centuries-old trees to make way for a billionaire’s helipad proved a step too far.
“It was a rare flash of pride from the state,” an Italian official told reporters.
Security services are also struggling.
The civilian port at Civitavecchia is now semi-militarised due to the ambassador’s presence, and Italian officials have reportedly complained that Fertitta doesn’t always inform them of his movements.
One recent incident saw him take an unannounced boat trip to the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno – just as American forces worldwide were on high alert due to tensions in the Middle East.
Fertitta has a long history of political donations, straddling party lines but increasingly aligned with Trump-era conservatism.
In 2011, he purchased the struggling Trump Marina Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City – one of the former president’s more troubled assets.
According to filings reviewed by Front Office Sports, Fertitta has also donated more than £1.5 million to Trump and other Republican candidates since January 2023.
His reward came in 2024, when Trump nominated him as ambassador to the only post Fertitta has said he would ever accept: Italy.
He told guests he took the job to honour his family’s Sicilian roots. But insiders say he’s already grown weary of the endless middlemen – Italian and American – who circle the embassy hoping to influence Washington-Rome relations.
“Life on a boat is wonderful,” said one European diplomat to the Italian newspaper Domani.
“But maybe he shouldn’t have become an ambassador.”