Property Description

Casa Salvatore – Stunning Countryside Views from this Four-bedroom Country House in the Nebrodi Natural Park

Deep in the hills of the Nebrodi Natural Park, some of Sicily’s greenest and most undeveloped countryside, Casa Salvatore is a large semi-detached home with some mesmerising hillside views. If you are looking for a place to get away from it all and explore unspoilt natural landscapes, this could be exactly what you’ve been looking for.

Nor is it lacking in character, the building dating back over a hundred years, and the beautiful Sicilian history evident in local craftwork like the wrought iron over the upstairs front door and the decorative floor tiles in some of the rooms. The vaulted, arched ceilings and walls which are fully one metre thick are the kind of indulgent design touches which you just won’t find in a newer build.

The configuration at the moment is actually a pair of completely separate apartments, each with its own bathroom, kitchen and entrance. However, with each floor offering 98m2 of internal space, combining them would create a really luxurious three- or four-bedroom family home.

The position is rural but not isolated, on a well-maintained road which skirts the the small town of San Salvatore di Fitalia, just a kilometre away as the crow flies. The sandy beaches and marinas of Capri Leone, Torrenova and the larger Capo d’Orlando are all just ten kilometres to the north-west.

Renovated about 20 years ago, the country house in the Nebrodi is in great condition structurally, and the upper apartment in particular is ready to be lived in right away. With a pair of bedrooms to use, why not make that your home while you carry out the necessary refurbishment and decoration work on the ground floor?

Let’s take a look at each part of the property in turn.

The Property

While Casa Salvatore backs directly onto the quiet road outside, access is around the back on the lower side of the building, across a neatly bricked driveway with a view of the surrounding vineyards. An external staircase leads up to the front door.

Stepping through that wrought iron-finished doorway (the initials above the door were a status symbol for affluent Sicilian families in the past), you enter a spacious entrance hall with plenty of light from a south-facing window. The floor tiles and soft wooden fittings are a sign of the twenty-first century restoration work, but the smooth lines of the high ceiling reveal the property’s lineage. This continues throughout the upper apartment.

Ahead of you is a small kitchen, where the ceiling is a little lower to make way for water storage in the loft space. Behind this is a neat family bathroom, fully tiled in clean white, with a shower cubicle in one corner.

Off the entrance hall to the left is a beautiful living room, the first of the spaces to feature those traditional decorative floor tiles. Over 20m2, it is well lit through a full length French windows which open onto a Juliet balcony. The view is slightly obstructed at the moment by one of the large camellia trees in the garden, but in spring when their fragrant white flowers bloom, the effect is a wonderful fusion of nature and the interior space.

Past the living room is a guest bedroom, about 10m2 with another charming floor and a window whose view West across the valley is perhaps even better than the previous one. To the rear, on the street side of the property, the master bedroom is much more spacious, opening off a dining room which takes light both from the street-side window on the eastern side of the property and the opening into the living room with its western aspect. This can also allow a very comfortable breeze to pass through the home in the summer.

The wooden windows are in fair condition, but are only singly-glazed, and there is currently no heating or cooling system in the home. If you are planning to use Casa Salvatore as a summer house, this may not present any problems – we are 580m above sea level here, and the fresh breeze and unbeatable insulation of the stone structure do a great job of taking the edge off the muggy Sicilian summer. If, however, you are considering moving full-time to Sicily (which can offer some tempting tax benefits), you might need to invest in some kind of heat pumps or at least a small pellet stove for the winter.

Downstairs, the lower apartment is much less ornate, although the incredibly sturdy construction is still clearly evident. The space has been divided laterally into two wide rooms, one of which is currently a kitchen-diner and the other a bedroom. The doorway between the two is just an opening in the thick walls, giving a fluid, almost studio-like feeling to the simple layout. A bathroom is found directly underneath the one above.

Finally, there is an entrance hall on the southern edge of the building, although the fact that the front room opens directly onto the patio means that this space could perhaps be repurposed. We’ll talk more about the configuration of Casa Salvatore below.

In both parts of the property the utilities are in serviceable condition, and the floors, ceilings and roof above are all well-maintained and durable thanks to that renovation work 20 years ago which really revitalised the country house. In the Nebrodi utilities can occasionally be a tricky question, but Casa Salvatore is served by mains water and power. As an additional bonus, it also benefits from a private spring which rises on the property.

Speaking of the outdoor space, nature lovers will adore the 800m2 grounds, split between the paved terrace and a long sloping garden space. The terrace has been built to take full advantage of the panoramic views, with large rectangular space extending above the tops of the vines below, shaded with a canopy over which you can encourage more to grow, and offering a spectacular view of the valley, as well as the towns of Mirto, Galati Mamertino, Graziano and Sant’Ippoloto.

The garden has been planted with a huge variety of fruit trees. You will be able to pick and eat your own apricots, plums, quinces, oranges, lemons, tangerines, apples, cherries and, of course, grapes. The twin camellia trees are as old as the house itself!

Surroundings

Those nearby towns, visible from the terrace and the upstairs windows, are part of the network of communities that dot the hills of the Nebrodi Park. This is a traditional, completely unspoilt corner of Sicily as well as one that has been surprisingly overlooked by tourists over the years. The reason may perhaps lie in the fact that it is a slightly longer journey from the nearest airports than, say, the parks of the Madonie mountains or Mount Etna – but both Palermo and Catania airports can still be reached in only a little more than two hours.

The immediate surroundings, however, are fabulous. The leafy country roads and footpaths are perfect for exploring on foot or by bike. San Salvatore di Fitalia is a welcoming small town in a spectacular position, grown up on a spit of hillside overlooking twin valleys to the east and west, and the drop down to the Tyrrhenian coast to the north. You can even see the fiery volcanic archipelago of the Aeolian Islands, out to sea towards the main Italian peninsula.

The town boasts a great mix of ancient and modern cultural influences, with pilgrims drawn up the lovely footway from the sea level below to the holy sanctuary of San Calogero for a three day festival held every August – and a distinctive contemporary street art tradition known as ‘Saracinesca’, which sees iron shutters on garages and shop windows spray-painted with Banksy-style murals.

You’ll find everything you need for day-to-day life reachable in a few minutes by car, with larger supermarkets, hospitals and leisure facilities freely available down the hill at sea level.

Potential

The upper apartment is in great condition and ready to be lived in immediately. You will need to fit a new kitchen, and of course to furnish the property. Aside from this the only change we would suggest (apart from the windows and heating we mentioned before) would be that it would be great to create some more space in that kitchen area. The wall separating it from the dining room would take weeks to remove, but it might be possible to open it up more to that hallway space and  give yourself a more connected layout.

The lower property will give you the fun of starting with a very clean canvas. You might want to fit it out as a little guest house, either for your own use or as a little commercial venture. The views and tranquil surroundings would be sure to attract tourists in the long warm summer. Alternatively, you could combine it with the upper home, with a bedroom to the front and one to the rear, both reached through the entrance hall on the south side, under the staircase.

Feel free to talk to us about any plans you have in mind for this charming and durable country house in the Nebrodi. We offer a service which extends well past the exchange of contracts, and whether you need a help settling into the new community, or project management for some renovation work, our menu of after-sale services will offer something for every need and budget.