Property Description

Casa Lili – Stunningly Renovated Two-bedroom Luxury Apartment in Palermo’s Fashionable Via Roma; With Frescoed Ceilings and All Modern Comforts

Located within one of the most prestigious palazzo buildings in Palermo’s central La Kalsa district, served by excellent public transport connections and within easy walking district of shops, the city’s coolest nightlife and the city’s beautifully remodelled seafront marina, Casa Lili is a special opportunity to purchase prime real estate in the heart of Sicily’s most important metropolis.

The product of a luxury remodelling project which took place less than two years ago, the two-bedroom apartment is completely state-of-the-art with regards to décor and technology. You will love the way in which classic Sicilian heritage and contemporary comfort have been woven together, with original decorative ceilings and beautiful Liberty-style balconies offset by parquet floors and smooth white plasterwork. The external facade of the building was funny renovated.

Much of the carefully selected furniture and fittings is included in the sale, including the entire bathroom, the fitted kitchen, dining table and wardrobes. In this way you will be saving yourself the time and expense of finding pieces which can live up to the formidable backdrop of this spectacular luxury apartment in Palermo.

The Property

A first floor apartment in the Palazzo Caputo Pirrotta building, Casa Lili is reached through a grand entrance hall and up a spacious staircase or by elevator.

Completed in 1926 after two years of construction work, the palazzo was part of a grand urban redevelopment which took place in Palermo between the world wars. Standing six stories tall and built around an internal courtyard, its position on the arterial via Roma and proximity to the then-newly built Centrale railway station immediately made it a desirable address. The second half of the twentieth century brought change to Palermo, with the arrival of a new, more international style of commerce, and for over fifty years the first floors of the building became home to the immensely popular Niceta department store. After this closed its doors in 2013, the building lay empty for a while until it was purchased by a Swedish entrepreneur with plans to regenerate it for residential and commercial use. The ground floor is set to become the largest branch of the Unicredit bank in Palermo.

Following this purchase, Casa Lili was totally renovated last year and no expense has been spared to create a home which is as liveable as it is visually impressive. You will immediately note the real wood parquet, the custom-built kitchen, the internal and external lighting by Flos studios, and the double-glazed, energy efficient wooden windows throughout.

Grandiose touches are both classical and new: the ceilings feature frescoes lovingly restored by the local Academy of Fine Arts, and the property is heated and cooled with a cutting edge hydronic system which will guarantee your comfort at any time of the day and in any season of the year.

Around half of the apartment’s generous internal space is taken up by the open-plan living space, an L-shaped room which flows directly from the little entrance hallway. Four huge windows flood the whole area with natural light, and two of these open onto balconies which overlook the streets outside. An additional terrace, which faces onto the courtyard, is larger and fully covered: its bench-style sofa will stay with the property. So, too, will the long blue sofa in the living room, and the evocative 1950s-style dining table inside.

The kitchen both does and doesn’t form part of this open area, partially screened off by a doorway and some Scandinavian-style woodwork. It is united with the living room by featuring some more of those immaculate decorations on the four metre-high ceilings. You will also find a vast amount of cupboard space, an efficient oven and induction hotplate and marble work surfaces.

The two bedrooms are accessed down a small internal corridor. The guest room has a balcony of its own, and a quadruple wardrobe whose decorative front picks up perfectly on the style of the property’s historic ceilings. The master has a walk-in closet and an en-suite bathroom with a shower. An additional family bathroom contains a bathtub.

There is a condominium fee of around €100 per month, but this includes the services of a concierge who works all week – a good portiere is an invaluable asset in Sicily, with the contacts and know-how to help you resolve any domestic problem, besides the guarantee that you’ll never miss a delivery again!

Every part of the luxury apartment in Palermo’s most vibrant district exudes quality and taste. In a city which can sometimes be chaotic and loud, this is an luxurious oasis of calm in an unbeatable location.

Surroundings

With the Palazzo building fronting directly onto the dramatic and bustling via Roma, and the city’s liveliest neighbourhood at your back, Casa Lili could hardly be better positioned.

Just across the road, metres from the front entrance, is the main Centrale rail station, offering local connections to Cefalù, Catania and Messina, and overnight sleeper trains to Naples, Rome and Milan. The carbon-conscious traveller could head almost anywhere in Europe without needing to take a flight.

Via Roma, one of the city’s twin lateral arteries, and home to its dramatic post office as well as some of its fashionable shops, including another of the most prestigious department stores, Rinascente – a glass-fronted building with a fabulous roof terrace where you can enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner with a superb panoramic view of the city.

Where once this part of town was nightmare for heavy traffic, one municipal initiative has been making a real difference in recent years, and another will pay off in the near future. The limited traffic zone which covers much of Palermo’s old town has both freed up the roads and made finding parking spaces much easier for residents – you will be able to apply for a permit to use the streets freely.

Then moving forward, a huge new vision for the city, with a multi-billion budget already secured, will reduce traffic even further. A tram line will run the length of via Roma, and the private traffic flow will be halved by the end of 2024. A tunnel will extend this line out to the area of the University of Palermo. Finally, a network fo twelve new underground car parks will have a vast impact on the problem of finding a space.

The La Kalsa neighbourhood is home to Palermo’s best food and drink. You will love stretching your legs in the grassy spaces of Piazza Maggione, with its craft breweries and regular programme of events in the summer, and the seafront with its Foro Italico park and gleaming new marina. The side streets will lead you to Italy’s best street food and Michelin-starred dining alike, and the first of the city’s trio of great outdoor markets is on your doorstep.

With the five-star acoustics of the great Teatro Massimo, the world class boutiques of Via Libertá and the fabulous sandy beach of Mondello all close at hand, Palermo is a city for all seasons and all walks of life, and Casa Lili is found right at its heart.

Potential

While we could never say that any property has completely reached its perfect state, Casa Lili is as close to it as you could possibly find; certainly allowing for the vagaries of personal style and taste. If none of the decoration jars with your own preferences there is no reason to foresee or budget for future expenditure in the short or even medium term. It’s a beautiful apartment, masterfully redesigned.

The only challenge that will face you is the logistics of moving into and completing the furnishing of the lovely luxury apartment in Palermo. If you would like any advice or assistance, we are committed to the idea that our work with our clients does not stop when the contract is signed, but rather when they feel completely at home.

You may be interested in our Welcome to Sicily package, a concierge service through the moving process that includes help with residency registration, getting utilities activated and even finding a new mobile SIM. Alternatively, you may have questions about the financial advantages of relocation to Sicily, or need to connect with a specialist professional [LINK TO NEW ARTICLE] from our database of trusted contacts to discuss some aspect of your personal circumstances following the move.

However we can help, talk to our friendly multilingual team about your ideas for Casa Lili today.