Property Description

Four-bedroom, Four-bathroom Holiday Home in the Nebrodi Natural Park, with Unmissable Sea-view Roof Terrace

This freshly renovated village property comprises both a three-storey house and a completely separate one-bedroom apartment, with outstanding sea views from all levels. The large rooftop terrace, in particular, offers an almost unbelievable panorama that takes in 35km of coastline from an unobstructed elevated vantage point that you will never tire of enjoying.

In the charming village of San Marco d’Alunzio, 500m above sea level and just 3.5km from the sea, Casa San Giuseppe is found in the foothills of the magnificent Nebrodi Natural Park, an area of outstanding natural beauty which is often overlooked by international buyers due to its relative remoteness. Here, however, you have the best of both worlds – a tranquil and peaceful community which has retained all of its essential Sicilian character, but with the largest towns in the region on your doorstep.

The roof terrace is almost impossible to oversell. A wide 20m2 in size, with two storerooms set into the loft behind you, it overlooks the Tyrrhenian Sea from a thrilling perch. The whole gulf is laid out like a map in front of you. It’s almost like being in an aeroplane as it takes off, only instead of peering out through a triple-glazed porthole you have the fresh air on your face and the sun on your back. Turning right you also have a great vantage point from which to admire the Chiesa dei Filangeri church almost next door across a beautiful little piazza.

Totally restored in 2017, the large holiday home in the Nebrodi Park is ready for immediate use. Even the furniture is included in the asking price, so you would be able to start using your new home from day one.

The Property

Main house

As you would expect in a hilltop village there is really efficient use of limited space (top of a hill). The entrance hall, stairs and landings are minimal.

The ground floor living room is decorated in sunny yellow, with a dining table and chairs, plus a sofa. A neat kitchenette is fitted with a gas hob and a single sink. It’s minimal, but well presented. A double guest bedroom has a balcony overlooking the street outside with a partial sea view, and a bathroom completes the floor.

Upstairs, two large double bedrooms have balconies with views nearly as good as the one from the terrace above. Each has its own en-suite bathroom with a shower, finished in pristine white tiles. The furniture includes comfortable double beds and wardrobes in each, and a sofa in the larger of the two.

The top floor is only the open terrace space and the storerooms. But this is a space to spend entire days. Add some greenery to turn it into a little garden and watch it pop even more.

Second Apartment

The basement floor is accessed externally, down a flight of stairs and through an atmospheric stone tunnel. However, the steep slope of the land means that it’s actually at street level from the road behind the house. In fact you can park here, and it’s much more accessible to someone with limited mobility.

The space is split roughly in town, with a kitchen-living room which has been furnished with fridge, gas hob and sink. Light comes from the doorway, but also a street-front window if you prefer to keep that closed. You’ll also find a sofa, a small round dining table and chairs. Exposed masonry on the walls reminds you this house has been built into the side of a hill. The bedroom is small but with en-suite bathroom and a shower. The sea view from the window is impressive for what is technically a basement-level apartment!

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Both units have wooden window frames with double glazing. Wrought iron has been well used both indoors and out for railings on the staircases and balconies with marble. Sicilian terracotta tiles make up the flooring in all rooms

The installations were all redone recently and are in good condition. The short winters will be no problem thanks to the radiators and heated towel rails in every room, drawing heat from the gas boiler. There is an emergency water tank to guarantee continuous supply, and a pump to increase the pressure. It is connected to municipal supplies for water, sewage and electricity.

Surroundings

The perfect spot for a holiday home in the Nebrodi, Casa San Giuseppe sits nestled in pedestrian-only cobbled streets. There is no step free access to main house, which may be an issue for some buyers, but for anyone unaffected by this there is amazing character, to this Traditional Sicilian village, it’s like stepping back in time. The 500m of elevation and open views keep it cool and breezy in summer, but not freezing in winter as it can be in the upper park. And of course, this provides phenomenal views.

For a full guide to the region, take a look at our introduction to real estate opportunities in the Nebrodi Park.

San Marco d’Alunzio is one of the most accessible villages in the Nebrodi Park, being so close to sea level. Torrenova, the beach community is 15 minutes down the hill. A train station here will take you to Palermo, Messina and the beautiful beach town of Cefalù.

Sant’Agata di Militello, home to about 12,000 people, is 20 minutes away by car. Capo d’Orlando is a bit bigger, offering a full range of shops, facilities and a very impressive, brand new marina. You can get there in under half an hour.

Potential

When we surveyed the house we couldn’t find any obvious issues with it at all from a maintenance perspective. It’s sturdily built and has been very well looked after. So you won’t need to spend any money after completing the purchase. Of course, there are some projects we might suggest…

The well-decorated kitchenette in the main home is great for a holiday apartment, but would be small if you plan to move to Sicily full-time. If you were willing to sacrifice the downstairs bedroom you could create a much more user-friendly one in there with more worktops, plus space for a breakfast table or island, and some extra appliances like a washing machine and oven.

This would require some plumbing work, of course, and so need an investment of around €10–15,000. But you would end up with a place that was far better suited to year-round use, and there would be more than enough space in the larger living room to add a sofa bed if you ever needed to sleep six people. And you’d still have the downstairs apartment. The kitchen here is small too, but this seems less of a problem in the smaller, two-person space.

The vendor bought and renovated it, wanting a holiday home in the Nebrodi to escape the heat and humidity of Palermo in the summer, and spent a total of €180,000 on the property. Sicilian property prices have fallen by 16% over this time, although they have now been recovering for three years, so we would still consider this very good value and a good moment to buy.

In the past Casa San Giuseppe has been on the market as a vacation rental property. The relatively long travel distance from the nearest airports means that it doesn’t generate a huge income in this way, but if you see it as a possible bonus to contribute towards running costs when you can’t be there then it is certainly configured for that.