Property Description

Villa Anna – Luxury Sea-View Villa with Pool in Stunning Hills Outside Cefalù

Seeming almost to float in mid-air in a dreamy position in the hills above the idyllic beach town of Cefalù, Villa Anna offers a once-in-a-lifetime view from its huge terraces and spectacular infinity pool.

The two-bedroom, 90m2, detached sea-view villa with pool was comprehensively renovated in the spring of 2024, and the finished product is a luxurious, beautiful holiday home to rival any of its size on the island. The wide panoramic views take in a vast 40km2 of Tyrrhenian coastline, with the entire Gulf of Termini Imerese laid out before you from the north-west facing terraces.

No expense has been spared on top quality materials or stylish design: the modernist structure has been painstakingly laid out to maximise the quantity and quality of light which enters the home. Some spot on the property, both inside and out, will receive direct light right throughout the day until the sky over the turquoise waters explodes into a dazzling display as the sun sets beyond the distant cape. The building is in excellent condition structurally, and the finishes in understated marble and timber allow its architecture and position to steal the show while providing a reassuring touch of class. It is both contemporary and traditional.

Energy efficient with an independent power source and top-rated heat retention, with an ample driveway and off-street parking, security infrastructure and a 3,500m2 plot dotted with olive trees, everything about Villa Anna is enticing. Whether you are buying for your own private use or as an investment in the island’s high-end tourist economy, neither you nor your guests will ever want to leave.

The Property

A driveway leads from the quiet Contrada Monte to the house, which is almost invisible from the road side – being laid into the side of the hill heading downwards. It is in fact a two storey building, with only a small roof terrace and a light well set above ground level. This latter allows natural light to reach the living space on the upper floor.

This living area takes up most of the floor and is a fabulously airy triple-exposition space with windows pointing north-west, north-east and south-west. The architect has connected the internal and external spaces in all directions, making the large 180m2 of terrace feel seamlessly linked to the smaller interiors. As well as enjoying the views and the sun, you will be able to eat, work and socialise on these picture-postcard expanses of patio. There are fittings for a kitchen in the versatile indoor living room, and more for an outdoor one under the wooden awning that straddles the largest terrace. A family bathroom with a shower completes the upper storey.

The staircase which leads down to the sleeping area and swimming pool is long and straight, lit from above through a long sloping skylight which offers a tantalising glimpse of what is to come. At the foot of the stairs is a little porthole window, an understated nod to the region’s nautical heritage and the waves breaking in the distance outside.

Two bedrooms are distributed to either side of the landing, with the larger one connecting to an en-suite bathroom with a shower. It also benefits from direct access to the gardens through French windows which flood the room with natural light. The second bedroom, to the left, has sea views and alcoves which will become built-in wardrobes. The real joy of this guest room is that it opens directly onto the smaller terrace where you find the swimming pool.

This state-of-the art feature makes phenomenal use of the limited space on the steep hillside. While the dimensions are just 5x8m, it is not only the views which are infinite. It has been equipped with a current generator which allows you to swim indefinitely on the spot, a kind of aquatic treadmill that will allow you to savour the perfect view as you blow off the cobwebs and tone up with a morning exercise routine that could hardly be more epic in setting.

In this magical space, you are almost held in mid-air, so fast does the landscape fall away beyond the pool and surrounding area. There is complete privacy, total peace and a phenomenal elemental fusion of land, sky and water. An outdoor shower makes the ideal spot in which to cool off after an hour in the direct afternoon sun.

A generous pool house has been integrated into the property, with a small bathroom and a vast storeroom, amply big enough to house all of the technical equipment for the pool and the main house itself, as well as outdoor furniture through the brief, mild winters.

The build quality is A+, with quality throughout, but no décor yet so you can take it any way you want to go. This sea-view villa with pool is a space that would work equally well with clean Scandinavian design or colourful and sunny Mediterranean vibrancy.

The slow sloping roof is decked out with 6kW photovoltaic panels, and there is a storage battery for an additional 10kW. Water (which is comes from the municipal supply, with a 40,000l reserve cistern) is heated by a Viesmar heat pump. All of the larger spaces can be heated or cooled to the perfect temperature at the touch of a button, and the thermal-broken aluminium windows guarantee that you won’t need to expend extraneous energy to keep it there.

Your investment will be protected by a video surveillance system, a burglar alarm and a video intercom on the gate outside.

Surroundings

While the centre of Cefalù is just a ten minute drive downhill, Villa Anna stands in a completely different environment to the tight winding streets and miniature piazzas of the historic Norman town. In the green hills above the district of Mazzaforno, it is found in a district that has been developed only sparingly, with luxury villas that have been built by owners anxious to preserve their privacy and escape the hubbub of the crowds that build up at sea level.

Cefalù is famed for its UNESCO World Heritage Site Arab-Norman cathedral, the ancient ruins atop dramatic rock which dominates its skyline and the 2km strip of golden sandy beach that runs right up to the cobbled streets of the pedestrian old town. Immortalised in cinema history for its role as the setting for much of local director Giuseppe Tornatore’s seminal 1988 masterpiece Cinema Paradiso, it has caught the eye more recently in glossy dramas like HBO’s The White Lotus and Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It offers boutique shopping, several excellent restaurants (including a quartet featured in the latest Michelin Guide), and a packed programme of  artistic and cultural events, especially in the summer.

The lavish four star Costa Verde hotel lies at the bottom of the hill beneath Villa Anna, but there is no extra traffic from this, as the respective access roads don’t connect at any point. The motorway which links Messina in Sicily’s north-east corner with Palermo, the island’s inspiring capital city, passes on the other side of the hotel, but the 1km of hillside and 200m of elevation difference serve to keep the noise at bay.

As you will see from our video and photos, the views from Villa Anna are something really special. The land drops away sharply from the boundary of the property, and at the base of this hill is thhe town of Campofelice. Beyond that, along the huge gulf which bears its name, is Termini itself, then Altavilla Milicia can be seen in the distance and finally the distinctive rocky peak of Capo Zafferano on the horizon, the last dramatic promontory before the great city of Palermo, which it blocks from view.

The green hills of the Madonie Natural Park rise directly behind the villa, and offer a wealth of opportunities for lovers of outdoor pursuits, history, gastronomy and ornithology. All of Sicily’s major attractions can be reached within a day trip. The nearest airport is Palermo’s Falcone-Borsellino, which can be reached by car in about 70 minutes.

Potential

While immaculately built, the sea-view villa with pool is unfurnished and has no fittings, but this creates an opportunity to make sure every last detail is exactly to your taste. We can certainly help you find an interior designer worthy of the challenge of making your home live up to that unique backdrop.

Some of the outdoor spaces beyond the immediate area of the villa could certainly be improved. The driveway and parking area are rough and would benefit from some organisation and illumination. The green areas outside have a natural beauty, but if you are planning to increase the colour palate with flowers or fruit trees you’ll need to install an automatic irrigation system. We estimate that the total budget to do real justice to these areas is only around €35,000.

If you want to make the transition into Sicilian life the easiest it could possibly be, you’ll want your association with Property in Sicily and our friendly multilingual team to extend beyond the signing of the purchase contract for Villa Anna. Our unbeatable after-sales care can cover expert support for all manner of renovation or construction projects, but the most popular offering is our Welcome to Sicily package, which takes every possible ounce of stress out of the process of starting to call the island home. We’ll take care of everything from your residency registration to utility connection and even get you the best value-for-money SIM card.

If you haven’t yet mastered Italian, our sister company Solemar Language Academy is a first class institution for learning the language, with highly qualified staff, accreditation from Italy’s most prestigious association of language schools and above all a relaxed and sociable vibe. You’ll find this the perfect way to network and make friends in your new community, as well as to master the finer points of grammar and vocabulary.

Cefalù is the best combination of international infrastructure and small-town Sicilian charm to be found anywhere in the region, and there could be no better vantage point from which to discover it than the impeccable Villa Anna.

Drone shot