Property Description

Two Bedroom Sea View House in Sicily’s Beautiful Madonie Park

Casa Brodolini has been standing for over a century on the threshold of Pollina, a hilltop village with panoramic sea views, in the lower slopes of the Madonie National Park. This two bedroom terraced house is built in a traditional style and takes full advantage of its lofty perch to give, from the master bedroom, an absolutely breathtaking panoramic view along a huge stretch of Sicily’s north coast.

All around you are spectacular views of the green Madonie hills, the crystalline sea and the atmosphere of a community which has grown up in harmony with its dramatic surroundings over literally thousands of years. This unexpectedly affordable property would make a fabulous pied-a-terre or holiday home for a small family looking to escape the cares of the modern world and step into a world of ancient traditions, intoxicating charms and natural splendour.

Buying a sea view house in Sicily is your passport to a world of endlessly rich traditions and thrilling discoveries. We think Casa Brodolini could make a great first step on that ladder for a price-conscious new buyer. Keep on reading to find out why!

The Property

From the quiet street on which Casa Brodolini stands, a short flight of stairs leads you up to the ‘ground’ floor, On your right you pass a guest bedroom (overlooking the front of the house) before reaching the master bedroom, amply big enough for a full bedroom suite and cupboards. This opens onto a good sized balcony, with a partial sea view that could be visible from your bed.

Upstairs is a small kitchen, lit by a full-length window which opens onto a balcony to the front of the house. A bathroom with shower is also to the front, and then behind these is the nicest space in the house; a spacious and airy living room with a colourful marble floor and French windows to a balcony from which the sea is clearly visible. At this level you are higher up than any of the buildings between you and the water, guaranteeing a sunny panorama of green hills running down to the blue water below.

A further staircase leads up from the kitchen to a shallow loft space, with the boiler and ample storage. In total there is 55m2 of usable space inside the property.

Being open both to the front and rear gives Casa Brodolini the distinct advantage of a through breeze, invaluable in the island’s long hot summer months. You will also really appreciate the value of living above sea level when you drop down to visit the nearby towns or beaches – aside from the views you can enjoy up there, the difference in temperature really is dramatic in July and August.

There is no heating system in place at present, although one could certainly be added. The sturdy ancient construction was built to protect Casa Brodolini’s inhabitants from the worst excesses of the weather, however, with stone walls some 80cm thick offering incredible insulation, and keeping the place warm in winter and cool in summer. Windows and shutters are modern, in a light wooden finish which is in keeping with the rest of the design.

Surroundings

Pollina has long been one of our favourite recommendations to find great value houses for sale in Sicily.  The medieval hilltop village was our top investment pick back in 2019, when we wrote this guide to Pollina for prospective buyers.

Since then, the town has been experiencing a renaissance, with a dozen or more new arrivals from the north of Europe acquiring property here and taking advantage of the incredible subsidies available to renovate properties in this charming community. Nor is this creating a divide between the historical residents and the newcomers – our many new friends in the area have been overcome with the warmth of the welcome they’ve received from their new neighbours. Hospitality is, after all, at the very core of the Sicilian cultural experience – especially if it’s served up warm and straight from the oven!

What you will find, in short, 700m above sea level but only three kilometres as the crow (or, perhaps, the local seabird) flies is a town of a few thousand people, mostly working in agriculture, ceramics or food production. The local shops will keep your cupboards stocked whether you’re staying for a few weeks in summer or making the town your new home in Sicily. Bigger supermarkets and facilities are available a 10 minute drive down the hill in Finale, and Cefalù – the legendarily beautiful beach resort and UNESCO World Heritage Site – has all the infrastructure you would expect of a medium sized town, including schools and a large hospital. The so-called ‘Pearl of the Tyrrhenian’ is only 20 minutes along the coast from Finale.

Casa Brodolini is found on Via Maddalena, at the entrance of the village. This has obvious advantages for accessibility and, of course, the view – but the compact community is very walkable, with its furthest reaches no more than a fifteen minute stroll away.

Potential

The sea-view house in Sicily’s greenest hills is ready for immediate occupation without any urgent renovation needs. In due course it might be advantageous to add a heating and cooling system, and you may well be tempted to modernise the kitchen units, in particular. A little more space could be created in the kitchen by finding a more retractable way to reach the loft.

The town of Pollina is (faintly surprisingly) connected to a state-of-the-art fibreoptic internet system which means that Casa Brodolini would be more than suitable as a base for remote working in any industry.

Of course, if you are planning to relocate to Sicily on a more permanent basis, we would be delighted to help you make Pollina your full time home. Our “Welcome to Italy” after-sales package will mean you don’t have to worry about anything from filling out your residency documents to finding a SIM card. There are also some incredible financial advantages available to new arrivals, from an extremely favourable tax regime  to incredible public subsidies for environmentally-responsible renovation work.