Property Description

Two bedroom renovated house in sicily’s Madonie Park, in beautiful condition

Like shepherds and their sheep (or perhaps parents and their children!), real estate agents aren’t supposed to have favourite properties. But we can’t pretend that there isn’t something which made us fall head over heels with this immaculately designed and restored two-bedroom, superbly renovated house in Sicily’s beautiful Madonie Hills.

Its development was, indeed, a labour of love. The current owner can show you the photos of what he bought ten years ago, although you would never recognise what was essentially a ruin – the type of property you see being given away in some novelty “€1 house in Sicily” scheme. But Giuseppe, the owner, was no amateur decorator – he actually owns his own construction business. Working every weekend for seven years, he painstakingly brought it back to life, sparing no expense until he was eventually able to move his young family in.  They are now looking for a larger property, but you won’t find any property for sale in Sicily that has been given more personal care and attention over the past decade.

With three floors of 50m2 apiece, Casa Piave is a spacious family home that will be a perfect purchase for some lucky buyer.

The Property

Casa Piave is a corner property on the end of a small terrace. Built on a slope, a broad flight of stairs connects the streets to its front and rear. Its stone construction is exposed, save for a section on the second floor which accents the historic building in a coppery tone of plaster.

Stepping through the mahogany, intricately detailed front door is a real ‘wow’ moment – our video does its best but can’t quite capture the experience of setting foot in this fabulous open space. The Romanesque supporting arches that separate the dining and living areas are the only division of a room which otherwise covers almost 45m2.

Everywhere you look you see high quality materials, beautifully presented. Your eye might be drawn to the timeless masonry of the arches one minute, then up to the exposed timbers of the lofty ceiling and down to the floor, where some of the ancient foundations are showcased beneath a glass panel. One minute your attention is caught by the locally-sourced majolica tiling which accents the open staircase, the next by the fabulous wrought-iron handrail which guards it. The kitchen area, at the far end, is beautifully realised around a traditional brick oven and finished, like the floor, with high quality ceramic tiling, accented here and there with more of that wondrous majolica. It features a very efficient extractor fan and is connected to the gas main.

The living area is wonderfully cosy, built around an open fireplace. This connects to a system of ducts which carries the heat around the house, keeping it amply warm in winter and making it very well suited to being a year round home if you’re planning a full-time relocation to Sicily. There is also a pellet stove which has the same heat distribution system. Two doors lead to a small WC, finished with tawny tiles, and a larder, respectively.

Furniture, included in the purchase price, includes a lovely hardwood dining suite, a small majolica-tiled side table and chairs, and an amazingly comfortable L-shaped sofa in the lounge. The widescreen TV is HD and even the light fittings are characterful and perfectly in keeping with the design.

Heading upstairs to the first floor we find a utility room and the master bedroom, with an en-suite bathroom and a huge walk-in closet. The bedroom has made a feature of the stone wall of the house, and also has a small balcony overlooking the quaint street below and the surrounding green hills. The bathroom is huge, with a partially-sunken spa bath that guarantees complete relaxation, and as you must have come to expect by now, has been immaculately built from top quality materials. The bedroom has an air conditioning unit.

On the top floor is a second bathroom with a shower, used as a laundry with washer and dryer. Even these white goods are included in the purchase price, making not just for great value but incredible convenience. There is a second bedroom and a playroom, and best of all the a covered terrace, equipped for al fresco dining with an entire outdoor kitchen. With views that stretch on for miles across the green hills of the natural park, there can’t be a better place to host a dinner party for miles in any direction!

Power comes in large part from the state-of-the-art 3kw photovoltaic panel on the roof, keeping those energy bills low. The gas connection need only be used for cooking and the hot water boiler. The property’s only outdoor space is the terrace, but on-street parking is readily available directly outside the front door.

Surroundings

Casa Piave is in a quiet street in the highest part of the old town of Caltavuturo. The town hall and main square are just a couple of minutes on foot from the front door. This community of around 4,000 inhabitants, is a quiet, family-oriented district, nestled in the green tree-lined hills of the Madonie Natural Park. This beautiful expanse of greenery is a haven of biodiversity and home to some breathtaking medieval villages.

There are surprises, too. The town has Byzantine and Arabian roots. The next village along is Sclafani Bagni, home to a Michelin-starred restaurant whose menu gives nothing away to any kitchen you’ll find in Paris or Rome. The Madonie Hills are not only the perfect place for trekking and horse riding, you can also enjoy paragliding trips down to the nearby beaches of Campofelice and Cefalù, and even ski there in winter!

The town’s position, close to the A19 motorway that connects Sicily’s two largest cities, means that you can reach the airports of either Catania or Palermo within an hour and a half’s drive of your newly-aquired, fully-furnished, renovated house in Sicily.

Potential

We like to include a section in our listings to discuss the ‘potential’ for our properties, whether it be an extension, a renovation or a refurbishment – but in truth all we can put here is a challenge! If you can find a way to improve on this masterpiece, please let us know because we can’t think of a single thing we could do to upgrade it. At this asking price – which may even have scope for a little negotiation – it is a simply fabulous deal.

The efficient insulation on its walls, as well as the various heating and cooling systems which have been installed make Casa Piave ideally suited to be a year round home for a young family. If you prefer to use the child’s bedroom as a guest room it might need a little redecoration around the edges, but only at a cosmetic level.

In this scenic area of the Sicilian countryside there is obvious potential for the house to be listed as a holiday rental property, if you aren’t planning to move here full time. If that is the case, talk to us about our after-sale rental management service, which will take care of everything from listing your new investment in a way that’s guaranteed to stand out on all the best sites to organising check-ins, cleaning and maintenance.

The extremely friendly tax climate for new arrivals from overseas, however, means that we would suggest anyone interested in Casa Piave think seriously about becoming a resident here. And, of course, there are so many other advantages to a life on Sicily we hardly know where to start!

Casa Piave will not be on the market long, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our friendly international team today.