Property Description

Villetta Giusy – Four Homes in One! Multi-unit Home with Land in Comiso, near Ragusa in South-East Sicily

In Sicily, a ‘baglio’ was originally a kind of fortified farm, a kind of miniature village home to not just the farmers and their families but to lodgings, stables, warehouses and cellars. More recently this kind of multi-unit home with land has often become event venues, agriturismos (rural hotels that double as working farms and are a hugely popular element of Sicily’s tourist economy) and small residential communities.

Baglio Caterina, situated 10km north-west of Ragusa in the island’s sunny and bucolic south-east, is a fabulous example of the last category. It is also a very vivid demonstration of just how far your money can go when you buy property in Sicily. The asking price includes a complex of four separate homes, a large warehouse and an estate which stretches over 9,000 square metres (2.2 acres).

The property has a storied lineage, including a spell in the nineteenth century when it was used as a school. It has been built from the classic white-grey stone which is so characteristic of the area around Ragusa. You can also see it everywhere in the low walls that line the country roads as you take a walk or drive around this delightful part of the island.

With beautiful beaches less than a half hour away, the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is composed of eight baroque towns in the Val de Noto just on your doorstep, there is something wonderful for lovers of nature and history alike. Both the nearest small airport and Sicily’s best restaurant, the double-Michellin-starred Duomo in Ragusa city, can be found within a ten kilometre radius.

To be able to buy four separate homes plus this much land for this kind of asking price is an amazing opportunity. The fact that the asking price even includes the furniture as seen in our photos only makes it even more remarkable. Let’s look at each space in turn.

The Property

The estate consists of a large plot of 9,000 square metres, around 1,000 of which are given to a communal garden in front of the main building, with trees, typical local foliage and welcoming seating areas. You will also find a swimming pool measuring 8x4m, a large covered parking area, a huge outbuilding for storing tools or outdoor furniture.

The four completely independent living units are divided as follows:

Unit one: Large two-bedroom apartment with loft

The biggest unit offers an open plan living space with a kitchen, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The entrance is into the kitchen, a high-ceilinged space with light wooden roof timbers and kitchen units, giving an alpine feel. This leads to the central space, a bedroom which is currently used as a study, and the stairs leading up to the little loft. Beyond this is a master bedroom, with an en-suite bathroom containing a shower. All rooms have access to the communal patio through large French windows.

Unit two: Corner house with one bedroom

A smaller house, this is positioned at in the corner of the courtyard. A bedroom is paired with a dining room and kitchenette, and a bathroom with shower.

Unit three: Arched ceilings and lava-stone floors

The third home is perhaps the most immediately characterful part of the baglio complex. It featured arched, vaulted ceilings and flagstones underfoot from a dramatic, dark igneous rock.  As with the first unit, you will find two bedrooms, two bathrooms and the kitchen-living room. On the ground floor of the building, it is centrally heated and also has an antique wood-burning stove right next to the front door. This will need some attention to get it working, but is a charming reminder of the space’s historic origins.

The bedrooms are connecting, which might make this unit ideally used as a one-bedroom apartment, with a small lounge in lieu of the smaller bedroom. The master is huge – big enough that it currently holds four beds!

Unit four: Two-bedroom flat on the first floor

The only upstairs part of the baglio, this apartment is accessed via an external staircase made of stone. It features an entrance hallway, a beautiful master bedroom, a kitchen with a dining table and a second bedroom, as well as a bathroom with shower. This unit is probably the best-presented and most recently renovated part of the property: the beautiful structure of the bamboo-cane roof, has been left on display, as has much of the ancient masonry. There is more of that timeless lava-stone flooring, too.

The whole building is heated by a network of radiators, and some of the rooms also have air conditioning. The house is equipped with telephone and internet and is in good condition, ready for immediate use.

The Estate

The spacious grounds have been planted with around 80 olive trees and a variety of fruits. The olives are mature and well-tended. They produce, in fact, about one hundred litres of excellent quality oil per year. The fruits are a wide mix, including oranges, plums, persimmons, mulberries, figs, prickly pears, peaches, apricots, medlars, pomegranates, walnuts and almonds.

Behind the first unit is a shed with three covered parking spaces. A fenced and covered area adjacent to this has a brick kennel which will be a great help to dog lovers. On the opposite side of this courtyard there is a warehouse which would store a range of bicycles, motorbikes, sports gear and outdoor furniture.

The baglio benefits from unlimited free water, thanks to a private well. To ensure uninterrupted year-round supply this is stored in an enormous brick cistern. A 1,000m3 tank underground stores gas, which is used both for water heating and the radiators. The multi-unit home with land has equipped both with an alarm system that is connected to the nearest Carabinieri barracks, and four CCTV cameras, which can be monitored remotely by smartphone. The main gate is electrically operated.

Surroundings

The baglio is very much a rural property, and the residents of the immediate area are mostly employed in agriculture, winemaking, or trades like carpentry and stonework.

The nearest supermarket is 4km up the road, in the small village of Chiaramonte Gulfi. The first bigger town you can reach is Comiso, 7km away to the west, across a stretch of fairly flat land which runs 25km until the nature reserve of the Forest of San Pietro.

In ancient times, Comiso (Greek: Kasmenai) was a Greek colony. The city was founded by Syracusans in the seventh century BC and then sacked by the Roman army five hundred laters. During the renaissance, the city was severely damaged by an earthquake and needed to be almost completely rebuilt on the same site. Modern Comiso has a hospital, cinema and a far wider range of shops. There is also a railway station on the Canicattì-Syracuse line. The town even has its own small airport, built on the flat plain. This will not fly you direct to many international destinations, but it does offer connections to the Italian mainland on a daily basis.

The wonderful baroque gem of Ragusa is to the east, up into the hills over which the sun rises in the morning. Beyond this you come to Noto, a real tourist magnet with a spectacular cathedral and ornate public piazzas.

Syracusa, a beautiful peninsula port town which wielded real power in antiquity, can be reached in about 75 minutes. So, too, can Catania, the urban powerhouse of eastern Sicily, sitting in the imposing shadow of Mount Etna. Here you will find a much better-connected airport, still within easy reach of home.

Potential

Baglio Caterina actually has a high number of the most common features our clients tell us they’re looking for. It’s big, but not unmanageably so, and there is obvious value for money – you wouldn’t get an especially large flat in many European cities for this kind of asking price. Everything about the place – the architecture, the surrounding countryside, the greenery – is quintessentially Sicilian. Above all, this is a peaceful place, where you can be as self-sufficient as you like in complete isolation, or as sociable as you like without fear of disturbing any neighbours.

Of course, there is enormous potential to run Baglio Caterina as a guest house. You need only take your pick of the four apartments to live in, and you could create a beautiful B&B with visitors having the run of self-contained apartments and coming together to enjoy the long sunny evenings in the communal spaces.

The existing swimming pool is above-ground pool, and could of course be replaced by a nicer version. However, as the ground is rocky in this part of the estate, meaning that according to our surveyors an above-ground pool is in fact probably the best solution. Of course, you could always trade the existing one in for a larger or more attractive model.

As three of the four flats are at ground level, this complex has excellent accessibility. This would make it very suitable for a retirement community, whether for paying tenants or a group of friends or family who like the idea of enjoying life in the sun together.

If you are in need of any advice concerning the potential of this remarkable multi-unit home with land, whether in terms of renovation projects you’re wondering about, running a small tourist business or simply managing the practicalities of moving to Sicily, our friendly multilingual team would be delighted to help you. Drop us a line today!