Casa Loredana – Mistretta

• 6 Rooms

• 1 Bathroom

• 123 m²

• Split-level

Casa Loredana – Almost 4,000m2 of Olive and Fruit Trees Around a Sea-view Nebrodi Villa, Five Minutes from Mistretta

A detached two-storey house of just over 120m2, Casa Loredana stands in 3,900m2 of land planted with olives and fruit trees. From the upstairs balcony, the sea views stretch all the way to the Aeolian Islands. At 650m above sea level, it's cool and very secluded, but only five minutes' drive from the charming Nebrodi Park town of Mistretta. Both the building's structure and its roof are sound, so you'll only need to updating the amenities and redecorate, not take on a full rebuild. 

From a green hillside just below Mistretta, Casa Loredana looks down over plunging woodland that slopes to the Tyrrhenian Sea on Sicily's north coast. On the clearest days the Aeolian Islands rise on the horizon, a view you can savour every morning from the wraparound balcony upstairs. The detached house stands in almost 4,000m2 of its own land, where olive, cherry and pomegranate trees shade enchanting terraced gardens.

All around stretches the Nebrodi Park, Sicily's largest protected wilderness and a treasure trove of beech forest, mountain lakes and high pastures. Rare golden eagles and griffon vultures circle above its crags, and semi-wild horses roam its woods. Yet the coast at Santo Stefano di Camastra is less than twenty minutes away, and the iconic golden beach and Norman old town of Cefalù are withineasy reach to the west.

Casa Loredana is a perfect example of the remarkable deals to be found in Sicily's buyer-friendly property market. This sea-view Nebrodi villa would make a wonderful holiday home for a couple or family, or a peaceful base from which to start a new life in Sicily. Its modest price won't just amaze visitors, but leaves plenty of room in the budget for making it your own.

The property has not been lived in full time for around ten years, but the owners have kept it aired and the land cleared every year. The structure and roof are in good condition, so the renovation work that will be needed is about bringing the house up to date rather than rebuilding it.

The Property

Through a set of big, handsome wrought iron gates, the drive winds uphill in the shade of the trees, past the terraced gardens, to the house. Built in the second half of the twentieth century, it is typical of the Sicilian country villas of that period, with clean lines, a gently sloping roof and tiled floors. Just over 120m2 are spread mainly across two levels.

Downstairs you step straight into the heart of the house, a big, open and versatile room that is lounge, dining space and kitchen in one. The open fire is its natural focus, and we would keep it whatever else you change, as it is also a very effective way of heating the house in winter.

Leading off it is a reception room whose windows open onto a lovely view down to the sea. It could be a second lounge or a formal dining room, a playroom for the grandchildren, a cosy library or a bright and inspiring home office or studio. You could even open it up into the main room, although the living space is already generous.

Upstairs are two bedrooms and a bathroom, and this is where the balcony introduced above comes into its own. The hillside faces north and east, so the view takes in the whole stretch of coast from Santo Stefano di Camastra to Marina di Caronia. From one bedroom, a door and a second flight of stairs lead to a low loft, which is not habitable but is very handy for suitcases and seasonal belongings.

Beneath part of the house you will find a covered porch. The ceiling is low, but it is a pleasant space with its own window facing the sea. It leads into a service room with a working wood-fired oven, ready for homemade bread and pizza. The rest of the room makes a handy cellar or tool store.

A separate 41m2 outbuilding makes a useful store, garage or workshop. Out in the garden, some 25 olive trees, an apple, a pear and persimmons grow alongside the cherries and pomegranates mentioned earlier.

Life in the Sicilian countryside has always called for a degree of self-sufficiency, and this sea-view Nebrodi villa is well set up for it. A spring on the land feeds a storage cistern, which is currently full, although the spring's steady flow over time has not yet been measured. The house is already connected to the mains electricity grid, and the meter can be reactivated whenever you are ready. Waste water goes to an independent drainage system.

Surroundings

Mistretta is barely five minutes' drive up the hill, an ancient town strung along a mountain ridge at around 900m. Its cobbled streets and piazzas open onto remarkable views, and its character runs deep, from a long tradition of stone carving to the almond-paste sweets in its bakeries and bars. At carnival time, giant papier-mâché figures dance through the streets to music. It is a small community, and authentically traditional, but with a small and growing international population - our team has sold a handful of homes here over the past few years.

The countryside around the town is the Nebrodi at its most generous. Walking trails lead through woodland and pasture to the Valley of the Waterfalls, where dramatic cascades of up to thirty metres tumble into rocky pools. Local tables are laden with black pork, provola cheese and wild mountain herbs. The giant sculptures of the Fiumara d'Arte open-air art park are scattered across the surrounding hills, and the quiet, panoramic roads are a joy to drive. Westwards, the hilltop villages of the Madonie Natural Park are an easy day trip.

To reach the house, you leave the coastal motorway between Palermo and Messina at Santo Stefano di Camastra and climb a scenic, well-surfaced road into the hills. An asphalt municipal road and a short lane then bring you to the gate. Santo Stefano is famous far beyond Sicily for its ceramics and has the nearest beaches, supermarkets, shops and pharmacies.

Its station is on the line between Palermo and Messina, with trains that cross the Straits of Messina and carry you on to Naples, Rome and beyond. For flights, the island's main airports are at Palermo, Sicily's vibrant capital, and Catania on the east coast.

Potential

With the structure and roof in good order, the opportunity here is to put your own style onto the house as you bring it house up to date. Outside, the cornices and balconies need attention where the weather has affected some of rendering, especially the overhangs. Inside, we would recommend rewiring, a new bathroom and a full redecoration, and the drainage system should be checked and brought up to current standards at the same time.

This would also be an ideal moment to switch the whole estate to renewable energy. Solar panels could power heat pumps for heating and cooling, an induction hob and an electric water heater, with the open fire kept as a traditional source of warmth. A technician would need to confirm the size of the system. The result would be a sea-view Nebrodi villa that is comfortable in every season and much cheaper to run.

The outbuilding is registered as a garage and store, but it could one day become a guest annexe if a change of use is approved. A good surveyor could help you evaluate the feasibility of a project like this. A hydrologist can measure the spring's flow, so you can plan your water supply around how you intend to use the house.

Our project management service means the work can go ahead while you are still at home abroad. Our renovation team finds and briefs the right builders, electricians and installers, supervises everything on site and sends you regular photos and reports. We are proud to be the only agency in Sicily to offer this across all our properties.

Whether you want a summer retreat in the cool of the hills or a place to put down roots, Casa Loredana would make a fabulous home. If retirement is on the horizon, Mistretta has one more gift to offer. As a small town in the south, it qualifies for Italy's 7% flat tax on foreign pension income. Your pension would stretch much further, leaving more for long lunches, trips around the island and evenings by the fire.

This property description was last updated in October 2026