Case Anna – Rodi Milici

€ 175.000

Rodì Milici - 98059

#86481822

7 Rooms
2 Bathroom
143 m²

Characterful Pair of Well-kept Apartments with Swimming Pool in the Hills of Messina

Case Anna is a pair of two separate apartments, ideal for holiday use, housed within a small private community by the name of Residence Borgo al Costa. This is a very friendly and close-knit community of only five homes, built around a lovely shared swimming pool and deck.

Each one has a private wooden terrace in front of the house, overlooking the pool and giving a view of the green hills and distant mountains which surround the picturesque village of Rodì Milici, on the eastern edge of the Nebrodi Natural Park.

The vendor will consider offers for the apartments singly, although the price listed is for them as a matching pair. We think it would be a fabulous idea to buy them as a joint investment with another family and know that you can enjoy shared vacations for years to come.

Alternatively, maybe you're thinking of retiring to the sun? You could do so in the company of a good friend, against an incredible natural backdrop. And as the village has fewer than 20,000 inhabitants, you can enjoy a reduced tax rate of 7% on pension income earned abroad. A final possibility would be for a couple to live in their favourite while using the other as a guest house.

Both are sold as seen in our virtual tour and photography, complete with fixtures, furniture and even the appliances. They're ready for immediate use, whether that's by you yourselves or other guests. We think they would make great investment purchases, as the idyllic little village of Rodì is a popular spot for off-the-beaten-track tourism between April and October.

The Property

Both of these lovely apartments with swimming pool are in excellent condition despite having been used very little in recent years. The only work you would need to do would be to restore the wooden terrace, which is currently a little rickety and probably not as safe as you would like.

Electricity, drinking water and drainage for the whole residence comes from the municipal supply and there is a natural gas connection.

Now let's take you around each in turn.

Apartment Barone 7

This is a two-bedroom cottage on two floors, with 75m2 of living space.

Largely stone facade with accents in terracotta-coloured plaster. The third of a short terrace of cottages, it fronts onto a little patio which has been extended with a wooden terrace.

Although well looked-after and equipped with all modern comforts, the decoration is fairly traditional – there is even a slight echo of the medieval. This is especially true on the ground floor with its old hardwood ceiling, tiled floor, open masonry walls and wood-burning stove in the corner. A kitchen has been built-in in traditional Sicilian style along one side wall. Light comes from the east, through the partially glazed front doors and a window above the kitchen. It's a cosy and charming space, as suited to a snug winter evening as it is to escaping the intense heat of a Sicilian summer afternoon.

Upstairs are a pair of bedrooms, the larger of which has a wonderful view of the rooftops of Rodi Milici and the surrounding countryside to the east. The guest room is snug without space for much more than a double bed, but it's kept lovely and warm in winter thanks to the metal vent from the stove downstairs, which passes directly through the space next to the window. Double doors give you a second exit, straight onto via Barone.

The bathroom has a colourful floor and some beautiful flagstone tiles on the walls. An antique mirror maintains the character we saw downstairs.

There is air conditioning in the living room and the master bedroom.

Apartment Barone 15

This second apartment is a one-bedroom home on two floors, one of which is partially underground. It measures 68m2.It has direct access from the street, up a couple of stone steps and over a little uncovered porch. Lovely restoration work has made a historic cottage a comfortable modern space, with smooth white plaster both inside and out which has been stripped back in places to show the old masonry.

You find yourself on the upper floor, a single open plan living space with a kitchen in the far corner. It's heated by a stove which vents through a flue in the front wall. Very spacious and nicely furnished, there is room for a comfortable sofa as well as the four-person dining table. Again, the colourful kitchen is built-in and tiled and includes an oven, fridge-freezer and washing machine. It's also naturally lit, between the window and French doors onto the terrace.

The roof is pitched and the wooden timbers are on display, but with a 2.4 metre clearance at the lowest point there are no issues standing up and the place feels roomy. The terrace is small but fully open, and offers a glimpse of the Tyrrhenian Sea 4km away to the north. It's a great spot to enjoy a sunny breakfast or a glass of something as the sun sets. On the other side of the living room a side door takes you down to the shared wooden terrace.

Back indoors, a wooden staircase brings you directly into the bedroom, mostly underground on the street side but with a couple of windows opening on the lower side of the hill. An en-suite bathroom has bigger windows, as well as a built-in shower cubicle and some light blue tiles.

Both the living room and kitchen have air conditioning.

Surroundings

The residence is found at the end of a narrow alleyway, and is best reached on foot. Fortunately it's easy to find parking in the piazza in front of the church just three minutes around the corner. Of course, if you have a lot of things to unload from the car, none of the other residents will object to you doing that in the lane.

Rodì is a very pretty village with around 2,000 inhabitants. You feel absolutely in the countryside, even enjoying the crows of roosters in the morning. Despite being only four kilometres inland it's almost 200m above sea level and overlooked to the south by a big hill, which means that several points in the village offer breathtaking views of the nearby Aeolian Islands. The residence is almost the last construction before this hill starts to climb steeply, meaning that while you're actually right in the centre of the village you'll never have to worry about development behind you.

Within the walkable and friendly village, you will find everything you need for day-to-day life or any length of stay. This includes small supermarkets, a pharmacy, a bakery and a post office.

The nearest large town is Milazzo, about 10km to the north-east. As well as being home to the nearest shopping centres, hospital and urban infrastructure it is famous as being the gateway to the volcanic Aeolian Islands, for which passenger ferries leave regularly from the town's port. Messina, the regional capital, is 40km away, a 45 minute drive.

The most popular beach among the locals is Tonnarella, about 10 minutes away by car. The deep shingle bay has some lovely clear waters for bathing and gives you a view of some magnificent sunsets.

For international travel you can reach the airports of Catania and Palermo in about two hours.

Potential

The swimming pool is open to all of the residents who contribute to its running costs. So it's actually an optional extra, but we can't imagine why you'd buy these holiday apartments with swimming pool only to watch enviously as your neighbours have all the fun!

There is no formal condominium association, but the friendly group of owners are in the habit of working things out together and making sure nobody is left out of pocket for any expenses that benefit the community.

To help you budget, we were told that typical contributions for the gardens are about €250 per apartment. The swimming pool is around €650-800 per year. Against that, you can set the fact that running costs in this area are very low. You can cover electricity, gas water and council tax (TARI) on a budget of about €60 per month.