Casale Torrazza – Valderice

• 15 Rooms

• 0 Bathroom

• 421 m²

Casale Torrazza – Restore a Farmhouse in Sicily: Two-Storey Restoration Prospect on 1.2 Hectares in Valderice, between the Hills of Trapani Province

Set on a gently sloping plot of just under 1.2 hectares in the hills of Trapani province, a short drive from the port city of Trapani, this two-storey farmhouse is a ruin but one with tremendous character. The walls still standing rise to around four metres in places, hinting at the scale of the big, airy rooms they once enclosed.

Casale Torrazza is a listed property, which means restoration has to follow a gradual, sustainable approach rather than demolition and rebuilding from scratch. One of the two current owners is an architect, and she has already lodged the initial application with the heritage authority, giving a head start to anyone who chooses to restore a farmhouse in Sicily here

From the highest part of the plot, views stretch up to Mount Erice and down across the surrounding hillside, over vineyards, olive groves and the odd baglio scattered through this traditional corner of western Sicily, within reach of Trapani's airport and, a little further along the coast, Sicily's bustling capital. Mulberry, almond, fig and pomegranate trees are already established across the grounds.

Casale Torrazza would suit a buyer looking for an affordable holiday project in Sicily, or one prepared to buy a house and take on more extensive restoration work in exchange for considerably more space than a finished property would offer at the same price.

The Property

The ruins of Casale Torrazza occupy the highest point of the plot, made up of several building blocks that once formed a two-storey working estate, as introduced above. Two of these are registered for habitable use, with a combined floor area of around 420 square metres between them, giving real scope for anyone looking to restore a farmhouse in Sicily at this scale.

Much of the perimeter walling remains standing, in places close to the four metres mentioned above, giving a real sense of how large and airy the original rooms would have been. Rather than a straightforward renovation, this is a gradual, conservation-led rebuild: retaining, repairing and extending the existing structure wherever possible, with new work matching the character of what came before. The same approach also allows one section of these external walls to be kept as they are, forming an exclusive internal courtyard rather than being rebuilt into enclosed rooms, a detail that could give a new design real character without adding much to the build.

Access to the property runs along a private track of around 100 metres from the provincial road, already in good condition. A working well within the boundaries of the land supplies water independently of the mains, a genuine asset in this part of Sicily through the drier summer months.

Surroundings

The property lies in the hills of Trapani province, a part of western Sicily where flourishing agriculture has historically shaped the landscape, and elegant villas and old bagli with mature gardens are dotted, as introduced above, among vineyards and olive groves. In summer, an open-air theatre carved from a disused quarry in the middle of a pine wood hosts a full calendar of theatre, cinema and concerts, and the rest of the year's calendar takes in the Monte Erice hillclimb in May, a Christmas-season nativity event and the town's Carnival parade of allegorical floats.

Valderice itself, home to around ten thousand people, covers everyday needs with its restaurants, bars, supermarkets and medical practices. The coast is around 4km away at Bonagia, where a former tuna fishery has been converted into a hotel, its old watchtower now a small museum dedicated to the tuna trade. San Vito lo Capo, with its long white beach on the Caribbean-style stretch of the western coast, is about 20km and half an hour's drive, and Trapani town, with its Baroque old centre and port for the Aegadian Islands, is around 16km, roughly 20 minutes away. Trapani's airport, mentioned above, is a similar distance, under half an hour by car, and Palermo's, also introduced above, is about 88km, roughly ninety minutes further along the coast.

Potential

Owning a project like this means shaping the finished space entirely around how you would like to live: an exclusive home with a self-contained guest wing and a small spa area, or a handful of boutique holiday apartments let out through the season. Anyone looking to restore a farmhouse in Sicily as an income-generating project can call on our sister company Solemar Sicilia to manage bookings and guests once the work is done, and it is worth understanding how running an Airbnb in Sicily actually works before finalising the layout.

Restoring a property like this is a real investment on top of the purchase price, typically somewhere between €1,500 and €3,000 for every square metre depending on the finish you choose. The well mentioned above means you already have your own water supply, and there's already a swimming pool included in the pending planning application, so that's one less thing to arrange later. For the more unusual paperwork that comes with the restoration of a listed property, we can also put you in touch with trusted solicitors and surveyors.

We offer full project management for renovation and new-build work, the only agency in Sicily to provide this across every property we list, and past clients who have used the service share their experience in our testimonials. Given the scale of work here, our article on building your own house in Sicily is also worth a read, and for anyone planning to make this their full-time home, our "Welcome to Sicily" service can help with everything from utilities to residency.