The name Leonardo Village stems from the builder’s name, namely Leonardo Ganci who was born in a small poor village in Sicily on 26 November 1930.

Mr. Ganci, as he was commonly known to all the residents until he died on the 13th of December 2015, emigrated to South Africa in the 50’s as a fisherman. He then started in the building industry in the 70’s and was always able to see ahead and avoid problems. In doing so Mr. Ganci planned ahead and often led the industry and in so doing was also one of the first to start building townhouse complexes in the 80’s before it eventually became a general norm from thereon.

The village was his pride and joy while also his biggest project which took the longest to complete. He used his own name for the village i.e. Leonardo while Enza is the name of his beloved wife namely Lorenza whom he lovingly called Enza and in doing so honoured his wife with the street name. The other street in the village namely Nina Avenue, he named after his daughter Nina Ganci which was first born.

Just up the road and around the corner you’ll also find the street Antonino Close which he named after his son known by all in the village as Toni Ganci.

Legend also has it that every road in Monte Vista has a house built by Mr. Ganci. He then continued with building projects as part of building up Table View, Durbanville and industrial factories towards the end of his life in Killarney Gardens.

Mr. Ganci was hard working and dedicated to his family and through his honest hard work he became a household name i.e. a house built by Ganci is a solid house.