Listing of the day
Location: Messina, Sicily, Italy
Price: €3.8 million (US$4.2 million)
This award-winning contemporary house stands in stark contrast to the gothic architecture and ancient stone buildings it overlooks from its hillside perch above the old world Sicilian town of Milazzo.
The glazed and timber-wrapped Italian villa has a multi-leveled, low-carbon design, set on a green hill looking across at the Aeolian islands. It has a sunken roof terrace, a central double-height living space and panoramic sea views. Architecture studio Urban Future Organization (UFO) designed it to blend into the surrounding natural landscape while reducing its environmental impact, according to selling agent Diletta Giorgolo.
UFO built the house to a “folding” concept, which they studied and developed in London.
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“The central volume visually links all the rooms with each other [and is] flooded by natural light from several openings, including zenithal light and is therefore always different during the day and throughout the seasons,” Ms. Giorgolo said.
The external wooden ramp forms a sitting area offering shelter from the elements.
Italy Sotheby’s International Realty
The top of the coastal property features a sunken rooftop solarium, wrapped in wooden brise-soleil to break up the sun’s rays. Its staircase has a glazed glass wall, which pours light into the main reception room below. Meanwhile, an external wooden ramp glides up the side elevation to a balcony and its outdoor swimming pool has water flowing through two levels, recalling the soft motion of the waves.
The modern Sicilian house centers around a double-height living space, from which rooms radiate from. Zigzagging open staircases and glass walls and balustrades overlook the space, creating an open, flowing layout. The living space captures the postcard scenery through walls of windows.
Stats
The 5,920-square-foot house has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a kitchen, a living space, a solarium, a wine cellar and an integral garage.
Amenities
In addition to the pool, the property comes with furniture by high-end design brands such as Porro, Cassina and Cappellini, and light fittings by Flos, Artemide and Guzzini. It also has an alarm system, a stainless steel-topped Boffi kitchen, a wine cellar, an in-home gym and a basement.
A driveway sweeps around the house and has a privacy-enhancing high bank on one side. It opens onto a 0.8-acre lawn garden with new landscaping. There are plans for a heliport to be built on its grounds, which is included in the sale price.
The property also includes a 12-acre farm with 4,500 fruit trees, and an Aeolian-style house, comprising a kitchen-living room, a bedroom, a bathroom and a patio overlooking the valley and the sea.
Neighborhood Notes
The hilltop property lies in a hamlet of Messina, near the town of Milazzo. The port city of Messina lies on the north-eastern tip of Sicily, which is separated from mainland Italy by the Strait of Messina.
Design Notes
The Sicilian property has won numerous awards, and in 2017 it was nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award, according to the sales details.
Its walls are co-extruded with natural cork and there is a ventilated wall in okumé wood, which naturally reduces the temperature inside in summer and maintains heat in winter. Its bedrooms, meanwhile, feature no electrical wires running behind the bed headboard and are equipped with a switch (a bio switch) which cuts off electricity during rest hours.
Agent: Diletta Giorgolo, Italy Sotheby’s International Realty
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