Two Years in the Olive Grove: Building Villa Moana and Villa Manatis

In September 2022 we broke ground on the site in Vrbnik. The site was an olive grove — 300-year-old trees, limestone bedrock, a view across the Kvarner channel to the mainland. My father Hans and I stood there on a cold morning and agreed we would not touch a single olive tree. Everything would be designed around them. Twenty months later, we opened. In the same season, we received the Luxury Lifestyle Award 2024.

Why Vrbnik?

We already had Villa Marim in Stara Baška — built on a rock above the sea, remote, wild. Vrbnik is the counterpoint: a wine village on a cliff, 8 minutes from the beach, 5 minutes from one of the island's best restaurants. The character of the two places is completely different.

That was the point. We did not want to build a second version of Villa Marim. We wanted to build something that belongs to its place just as specifically — and Vrbnik, with its medieval tower, its Žlahtina wine, and its streets so narrow a person must turn sideways to pass, has a character entirely its own.

The Construction

We hired a local Krk contractor and oversaw every stage of the build. My father Hans visited every second weekend during 2022 and 2023. I was there most of the time. We made decisions on-site — the orientation of the pool, the position of the whirlpool, which trees to build around.

The contractor thought we were insane for how much we changed things mid-build. We were. The changes made the villas what they are. A construction project is a negotiation between the plan and the reality of the ground, the light, and what you see when you stand in the space with the walls half up.

The Olive Trees

The site had 23 olive trees. We kept all of them. The architecture follows the grove — the pool extends between three trees that now stand at the water's edge. The main terrace of Villa Moana is open on three sides so you are in the grove, not beside it.

Guests write to us about the olive trees more than any other feature. The age of them — some are 300 years old, which means they were already mature when Croatia as a political concept did not yet exist — does something to the experience of sitting beneath them. We know exactly which tree they are describing when they write.

The Furniture — Austrian Workshop

We run a small furniture workshop in Austria — it was not originally connected to the villa project. But once construction was underway, it became obvious that the right furniture did not exist in any catalogue. Every piece that existed was either too generic or too obviously from a supplier's range.

So we made it. The dining tables, beds, terrace furniture, and shelving in both villas were designed and built specifically for each room. The wood is Austrian oak and walnut. None of it was produced for general sale. When a guest opens a drawer in Villa Moana, they open a drawer that was made for that room in a workshop in Austria by people who knew which villa it was going into.

The Sand Court — An Unplanned Addition

The sand court at Villa Manatis was not in the original design. Three months before opening, we decided to build it — a court filled with fine sand, suitable for volleyball, bocce, and badminton, and for children to play freely in a way that stone or grass terracing does not allow.

No other villa on Krk has one. The decision added 6 weeks to the construction schedule and required us to level a section of the site that had been planned as a secondary terrace. We have never regretted it. Every family that stays at Villa Manatis uses the court. Every adult group does too.

The Whirlpool Position

The whirlpool at Villa Moana is positioned at the edge of the cliff terrace, looking directly at Vrbnik old town's medieval tower. In the evening, the tower is illuminated and reflects across the water. The whole old town turns amber in the last 30 minutes before dark.

This was not the original position. We moved it twice during construction. The first position was more sheltered — logical from a wind perspective, wrong from every other. The second was closer but not quite at the edge. The final position was chosen by standing in the spot ourselves at 9pm and seeing exactly what we saw. The view justified the concrete work required to move it again.

Opening Day — May 2024

The first guests arrived in early May 2024. The first thing they did was sit by the pool and not say anything for 20 minutes. The second thing was ask about the olive trees. The third was ask whether they could borrow our Vespa.

We gave them ours. Two weeks later we ordered a second one. It is now included with every Villa Moana booking, at no extra charge. The decision that started with a guest asking a question on their first morning became a permanent feature of the villa.

That is how most of the best decisions in this project happened — not in the planning, but in the response to what we actually saw and heard.

The Luxury Lifestyle Award 2024

The Luxury Lifestyle Award committee evaluates luxury properties for excellence across accommodation quality, service, and design. We were selected in 2024 — the recognition that stood out most was the note about attention to detail. What they saw is what every guest sees.

That felt like the right kind of validation. Not a submission we prepared for, but what the villas simply are on an ordinary day.

"Everything was thought of. It didn't feel like a rental — it felt like staying with people who care about you having the best possible time."

— Familie Bauer, guests at Villa Manatis

The Estate — Both Villas Together

Villa Moana and Villa Manatis can be booked together as one private estate for up to 14 guests. Two complete villas, two pools, two saunas, one sand court, one gate. We offer a 5% discount when both are booked together.

This works particularly well for two families travelling together, or a larger group that wants genuinely independent living spaces with the option to share the grounds. Each villa has its own entrance, its own pool, its own kitchen — the estate perimeter is the only thing they share.

See the Estate page: The Estate — Villa Moana + Villa Manatis

What Comes Next

We continue to operate Villa Marim in Stara Baška — our first villa, built on a rock above the Adriatic in 2018. Three villas now. The same family behind all three. We have no plans to expand beyond this. What we have is manageable at a level where we can still answer your messages ourselves and know who is staying in which villa.

Benjamin Haller

Owner, Marim Luxury Villas

My father Hans and I built these villas the way we would want to stay in them. Every decision made on-site, not in a planning meeting. That is the only way we know how to do it.