Property Description

Incredible Opportunity to Buy a Farm in Sicily! Four Hectare Lemon Orchard Overlooking the Island’s North Coast, with Two-storey Farmhouse and All Agricultural Equipment

This lemon farm on the Sicilian north coast has it all – the most traditional symbol of Sicily, a sea view and even a slice of aristocratic history. If you’ve ever dreamed of relocating to the Mediterranean sunshine to live and make your own living in a totally different setting, this might be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

The huge 40,000m2 (ten acre) farm is entirely covered by lemon groves, containing around five thousand mature, fruit-bearing trees. The White Zagara lemon, a local variety, is prized for its sweet scent but above all the high levels of juice which can be extracted from it. They can be harvested as many as three times a year, and in a good year the farm can generate revenue approaching one hundred thousand Euro. We’ll go into more detail at the end of this listing, but we don’t think you’ll find many better opportunities to buy a farm in Sicily.

The property originally belonged to the Baroness of Lascari, whose estate spanned a huge swathe of the land along this long flat stretch of coastline. Citrus fruit has always been a key component of the Sicilian economy, and the noble family will have profited greatly from the fertile soil and sunny climate.

The farmhouse is a two-storey building of which only the ground floor has been completed. This offers three bedrooms and a bathroom, plus a living room with kitchenette and a dining room or home office, but you could easily expand the home to five bedrooms and three bathrooms with work upstairs.

It is less than 1500m from the sea, and 100m of elevation about sea level is enough to give it a beautiful view of the turquoise waters, especially from the upper floor. The structure is in good condition, and all of the furniture shown in our virtual tour and photography is included in the asking price. A few of these hardwood pieces are of no little value in their own right.

To take care of the estate, the sale also includes a farm building of 55m2, and all of the agricultural equipment. This includes a Goldoni tractor as well as a motor hoe, brush cutter, chain saw and a huge stock of lemon crates. You’re buying a business, just as much as a home.

The Property

Each of the two floors of the villa offers about 105m2 of indoor space, and a deep veranda flanks the building on the north and east sides. This adds an extra 60m2 to the ground floor, and also creates the deep balcony upstairs. Beyond this is a large space for car parking, in the shade of a towering cypress tree.

The home is surrounded on all four sides by the lemon groves, and every single room has a picturesque orchard view, but the slope of the land means that they don’t obstruct the sea. At the back of the property they offer shade and give you a sense of being completely immersed in the colourful fruit trees.

On the ground floor, the front door takes you from the veranda straight into a large living room with a dining table and kitchen along one wall. This has a double sink, worktop, oven and hobs. A pair of huge dressers fill two walls offering almost you almost unlimited cupboard space.

Two double bedrooms are each furnished with a bed and wardrobe. One of these suites is especially nice, made from dark wood in an incredibly Sicilian arte povera style. There is a dining room, which could be a third bedroom if you’re happy to eat in the front room or outdoors, and a single box room, which would make a small home office. The bathroom is fully tiled with shower.

An external staircase takes you up to the balcony and indoors again to the first floor. The indoor space has not even been partitioned yet, so you could design this floor in any way you choose. Any rooms at the front of the property will have phenomenal sea views.

As well as the lemons, the estate also includes 60 olive trees plus other fruit, including oranges and tangerines but also medlars, persimmons, prickly pears and even banana trees! The roads around the farm are all paved and in great condition. The sprinkler irrigation system has been well maintained, and as well as the municipal aqueduct the property is able to draw water from two private wells.

Surroundings

When the work in the orchard is done you will certainly want to cool off in the pristine Tyrrhenian Sea, and the closest beach is just a five minute drive. You’re right in the middle of a 20km strip of unbroken sand that runs from Termini Imerese in the west to Mazzaforno in the east, so you will have no trouble finding your favourite spots away from the crowds.

The nearest town is Campofelice di Roccella, ten minutes away. Home to about five thousand residents it offers plenty of shops and amenities, including a railway station. The picture-perfect beach town of Cefalù is just 25 minutes up the road, with the atmospheric cobbled streets of its old town the perfect place to cool off after a day relaxing on its golden sandy seafront, Slightly closer to home, the welcoming little community of Collesano is just up the road in the foothills of the Madonie Park. It’s a surprisingly international town with a great social life.

Sicily’s capital city Palermo is only 45 minutes to the west, with its airport reachable in just one hour.

Potential

The ground floor apartment does needs to be refreshed somewhat, although it could be lived in straight away. You may spot some small traces of damp at the foot of some walls, but there is no mould, it will simply need repainting. The aluminium windows should really be updated to avoid losing money on energy bills, and this will need a budget of around €15,000. At some point in the future you will also want to spend around €10,000 to bring the electrical wiring up to modern standards, although everything is in working order. If you have the budget you could put in a perfect new bathroom for about €6-8,000. There is no heating system, and we would suggest putting in a two-way heat pump at around €1,000 per unit.

The upper floor is, of course, going to be what you make of it. It’s a completely blank canvas with unlimited potential, thanks to its size and great view. A budget is hard to calculate without knowing your needs and tastes, but we think that a skilled design and construction team could do a fabulous job with a budget of €60,000.

If you are able to find another solution for the farm equipment, the 55m2 barn could be renovated or even rebuilt to create a little cottage to use as an annexe or independent accommodation for guests.

Remember that one of the things which makes our agency special is that we also have a project management division. This means that if you know you won’t be able to oversee all of the construction and renovation work after you complete your purchase, we can manage all building work on your behalf. This means you never have to worry about instructions getting lost in translation, you have experienced local negotiators in your corner when you negotiate quotes, and that you have access to our extensive network of top quality local professionals.

The farm has an annual turnover of around €50,000, although this can of course vary with the market. In a record year it has almost hit €90,000. Out of this your expenses will be around €25,000k, with a necessary spend of about €10,000 on pruning, €3,000 each on water and fertiliser, and €7,000 for harvesting.

We do also have experience as property managers for a small agricultural business just five kilometres from Tenuta Barbera, the Casette di Calzata. This is a complex of holiday cottages on a huge estate which also produces organic olive oil and other artisanal produce. We have collaborated with top local designers and our sister company, Solemar Sicilia, who manage high end vacation lettings, to help make both parts of this business a growing success while the owners are busy elsewhere. If you would like to know more about how we could help you in similar fashion if you take the plunge and buy a farm in Sicily, please don’t hesitate to ask us!