Maison 10 chambres, 450 m²

Gallodoro, Messine (province)

A remarkable opportunity to buy a group of 4 houses around a swimming pool, in the middle of a quiet, hillside, rustic Sicilian village, only 7 km from the sea, 14 km from the bustling centre of Taormina, 60 km from Mount Etna (skiing possible...!) and 70 km from Catania international airport! Ideal either for a large, extended family or for someone who wants to set up a boutique hotel/B&B or a group of friends who want to share a pool and have their own properties.

The main house, which is on 4 floors, is in the centre of Gallodoro, a village of 300 people with a view of the sea and the mountains. It has its own garage and parking space in Piazza San Sebastiano, a beautiful square with a church (now a museum) and chiming clock tower. There are 6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and one cloakroom, a large kitchen on the ground floor and small cooking area halfway up, 2 large sitting rooms, one with an open fireplace, a dining room with seating for 14 people, a hall, two entrances, 2 small balconies and two good-sized terraces. It is double glazed and in excellent condition. There are solar panels for the hot water.

Just behind the main house, there is the swimming pool complex, with its large terrace and wonderful views, connected directly to two smaller houses. A small house on three floors, with a main bedroom and bathroom, a habitable cellar (with a small window) fun as a bedroom for two children, and on the top floor a kitchen/sitting room, with an original pizza oven and a small terrace which gives straight onto the 'overflow'-type swimming pool. The pool (currently closed) has two bathrooms underneath, and the potential for either a games room or two further bedrooms, in an area which has not yet been completed (bare concrete) above a double garage.

A further bigger house, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, an entrance hall, and a large kitchen/dining/sitting room on the top floor is underneath and connected to the swimming pool. It also has a terrace with stunning views. Next to this house, with its own entrance giving onto the square, is a small, separate bedsit with a double bed, a bathroom and a small kitchen/dining area.

The village, though small, is well provided for by a café, a bakery, a newsagent, a pharmacy, and a small grocer and butcher combined. It also has two good restaurants popular with locals for their traditional Sicilian cuisine and wide views of mountains and sea. A large supermarket is available at the bottom of the hill.

This area of Sicily is unique in as much as it has the sea, the hills, the volcano Etna and hundreds of years of history, ancient and modern. The Greek theatre in Taormina hosts opera productions as well as the cinema festival, you can visit Syracuse with its ancient monuments or Savoca where the Godfather was filmed. Long cross-country walks are there for the taking as well as famous or simple family restaurants where you can eat the local specialities. Further afield there is wine tasting on the foothills of Etna, the baroque splendours of Noto, the ancient chocolate factories of Modica ...and much, much more!