Property Description
Fully-furnished Holiday Home in Sicily
The ancient hilltop town of Petralia Soprana, first settled by the Romans during the Punic Wars around 250 BC, is officially one of Italy’s most beautiful villages. A long-standing member of ‘I Borghi più belli d’Italia‘ (the most beautiful villages of Italy), it was even awarded the prestigious title of ‘Borgo dei borghi’ (a kind of national championship for beautiful small towns) in 2019.
Surrounded by rolling fields of crops which paint the surrounding hillsides a tapestry of yellow all summer long, and in the southern foothills of the majestic Madonie Natural Park, this is a stunning corner of Italy where the old traditions are still preserved as everyday routines. If you are looking for a place where you can lose yourself in local colour and take a step almost back in time, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better spot anywhere in Europe.
Casetta nel Borgo is a compact, two-bedroom cottage in a small satellite village of Petralia Soprana. Fully-renovated, but with abundant character and offering complete peace and quiet, it is a very attractive and affordable solution for a buyer who wants a ready-to-use holiday home in Sicily – right at its very heart.
The Property
Casetta nel Borgo is a single storey property built on a sloping cobbled street with wonderful views of the surrounding countryside. A sturdy stone construction was fully restored in the recent past by the current owner – a lawyer from nearby Palermo, so you can be absolutely certain that all permits and registrations are in order!
A little flight of four steps leads you to the front door, which opens directly into a living room with a kitchenette to your left. A full-length window opens onto a little Juliet balcony, and the small elevated porch features as a second of these, keeping the space bright and airy. The sloping roof is of exposed timber, as are the wooden doors and modern windows, but the walls have been finished in neat plaster. It is furnished with a comfortable sofa and a small dining table, and the kitchen area features a gas stove and refrigerator.
A short corridor leads to a bathroom with shower, finished in clean white tiles. To the side are the two bedrooms, each large enough to hold a double bed and lit by windows which offer the same superb view. Waking up here would really be a treat to enjoy every morning.
The space is well insulated and heated both by radiators and a pellet stove, meaning that you would have no problems escaping to your Mediterranean home at any time of the year.
Surroundings
Casetta nel Borgo is found in Pianello, in a small hamlet, or ‘frazione’, of Petralia Soprana. Lying a few kilometres to the south of the small town itself, the short journey takes you, conveniently, in the direction of the A19 motorway. This highway bisects Sicily, connecting its two major cities, Palermo and Catania. So both of the island’s major population centres – and their international airports – are within a drive of less than two hours.
Pianello is big enough to offer a range of small shops including a post office, a butcher’s and a couple of bars and restaurants. The community had shrunk in size at the tail end of the twentieth century, but is now enjoying something of a new lease of life thanks to some enterprising investors, mostly from Palermo, who decided to renovate property in the area to create affordable summer houses like Casetta nel Borgo. One entrepreneur created an ambitious new kind of B&B divided between several of the cottages in the town – you can visit the website of Borgo i Stritti if you’d like a flavour of what kind of company you’ll be keeping in your new holiday home in Sicily.
The nearest large towns are Enna and Caltanisetta, around 25km further south. These both contain all the infrastructure you’d expect of provincial capitals, including hospitals and plenty of options for entertainment.
To the north lie the hills of the Madonie, a paradise for nature lovers and fans of outdoor sports. This is the kind of unspoilt natural paradise in which you can trek in the morning, climb in the afternoon and paraglide down to the beach in time for a superb locally-sourced dinner. In winter there are even ski slopes!
Potential
The great advantage of Casetta nel Borgo is the simplicity. Whilst the property itself isn’t large, for an affordable sum (which we think may even have some room for negotiation) you can become the owner of a property which is completely ready to use.
There is no need for any immediate work on the property, and as it is sold fully-furnished you won’t even need to worry about shipping or buying furniture and fittings. It is an incredibly attractive solution for someone looking to invest in a small pied-a-terre in Europe’s Mediterranean south.
While it is certainly possible to pay less for a holiday home in Sicily (one need only think of the splashy publicity surrounding the so-called ‘€1 houses’, to find one that has been restored to this level of convenience and practicality at this price is far less common. To buy a property in this part of the world is often to enter into a complex web of negotiations and bureaucracy, as you try to bring your new home up to scratch. With this property, you avoid all such hassle and could be enjoying some winter sunshine here from the day you complete the purchase.
If this is your first investment in Sicilian real estate, you will love our comprehensive after-sales support packages, which include everything from registration with your new municipality to help opening a bank account, and even finding an efficient and affordable SIM card!
If Casetta nel Borgo has caught your interest, talk to us today! We’d love to answer any questions you may have about the property and arrange a virtual or in-person viewing.
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