Palazzo Lorenzo – Sant’Agata di Militello

• 9 Rooms

• 0 Bathroom

• 429 m²

Palazzo Lorenzo - Would You Like to Run a B&B in Sicily? This 1950s Palazzo in Sant’Agata di Militello Boasts Six-Apartment and a 140m2 Roof Terrace for an Incredible Price

If you have ever thought about moving south to the sun and the sea, but wondered how to find work here, Palazzo Lorenzo could be the perfect solution. Despite selling for less than the price of a small private house in most Northern European cities, it offers six separate apartments as well as three garages and a 140m2 roof terrace. Everything is housed in a 1950s building on the edge of the old town of Sant’Agata di Militello, a lovely beach town on Sicily’s north coast.

Some renovation work will be required to zip the place up for guests, but this is a property with the perfect scale and configuration to run a B&B in Sicily. Sant’Agata di Militello is a year-round town with an unmistakably Sicilian character, and a modest level of tourist flow that keeps the community alive all year round and the competition for this kind of venture extremely manageable. 

The smart, palm tree-lined seafront is barely minutes’ walk from the front door, the green slopes of the Nebrodi Natural Park begin to rise behind the town, and the whole of the north coast is within reach. This affordable investment in a beautiful corner of the island could be the start of the new life you’ve always dreamed about but didn’t think you’d be able to afford.

The Property

Palazzo Lorenzo is a huge structure with over 900m2 of varying use - a scale that it’s hard to believe can be found at this asking price, never mind so close to a beautiful beach. 

The ground floor holds three garages, shown in the plans as storerooms, which cover around 350m2 in total. You could comfortably fit six cars down here, a real plus for a building close to the old town and a boost for your performance on booking platforms.

Upstairs, the two upper floors are divided into six independent apartments. These range in size from about 75 to 120m2, giving you a total of around 570m2 of living space. The orientation brings good natural light into almost every room, always a help for publicity photographs and, of course, the guest experience.

At the top of the building, a 140m2 flat terrace is reached from the upper floor. There is no sea view from up here, but it is a generous private space and would make a lovely breakfast terrace, a lounge area or even a roof garden for your guests.

Surroundings

The centre of town is right on your doorstep. A supermarket is almost directly behind the property, the town hospital is next door, and you are three or four minutes on foot from the old town centre. This offers a mix of traditional Sicilian architecture and sunny piazzas, the Castello Gallego and the Duomo serving as focal points for the community of about 10,000. Osteria Ambrosia, one of the town’s best-regarded restaurants, is just a couple of streets away, and there is a large modern sports and wellness centre nearby.

The seafront described above is just 250 metres away. A deep sandy beach is followed by a smart, palm-lined promenade. This is a lovely spot for a morning jog or an evening stroll, and if correctly integrated into marketing materials could certainly help generate demand even in an area which is a little off the tourist trail. 

Sant’Agata also has a well-connected railway station, which makes it easy to reach Cefalù in around 45 minutes, or to continue on to Palermo and its international airport in roughly 90 minutes, without the stress of driving. Heading east along the coast, the ferries to the dramatic Aeolian Islands depart from Milazzo, about an hour away.

On days when the mountains appeal more than the beach, the Nebrodi Natural Park is only a short distance inland. This is the largest protected area in Sicily, with dense beech and oak forests, river gorges and highland lakes, and a network of trails that draw hikers and cyclists from all over the island.

Potential

Both the scale and division of spaces are ideal for a hospitality business. Six apartments, three garages and a roof terrace give you the perfect raw material.  You could run a B&B in Sicily, style it as a small boutique hotel or create totally independent holiday apartments - a format that is particularly popular with northern European families looking for mild winters or long Mediterranean summers. The first floor, being the more accessible, could work well for older guests, or you could keep it as your own home and let the rest of the building earn its keep.

The building does need a thorough renovation. There is damp that will need to be addressed structurally, the aluminium window frames and internal doors all need replacing, there is no heating system and each apartment currently has only one bathroom. Of course, you would have complete freedom to redraw the floor plans, create modern living areas and fit en-suite bathrooms wherever you want them. 

If you won’t be in situ during the work, one option that we are delighted to offer all our buyers is the service of project management team to coordinate the work on your behalf. Working exclusively with trusted local tradespeople and leveraging our local knowledge and connections to negotiate you the best deals, we would keep you informed at every stage but take all the responsibility off your shoulders. We have a long list of satisfied clients who have been through the process with us, from small apartments to large-scale conversions. 

When the building is ready for guests, our sister company, rental specialists Solemar Sicilia, can offer expertise on everything from listing and marketing your rooms to managing bookings, guest check-ins and changeovers, drawing on years of hands-on experience in the Sicilian holiday letting market.