Masseria Gargallo

Main House

• Perle: double bed (160x190cm) on mezzanine level, en-suite bathroom with shower
• Ambra: double bed (160x190cm), en-suite bathroom with shower
• Corallo: double bed (160x190cm), en-suite bathroom with shower

Guesthouse

Acquamarina: double-twin bed (180/90x190cm) with in-room tub and an adjacent shower room

NB: A double-twin bedroom has two single beds that can either be joined together to create a double bed or left separate as two single beds.

There is also a single bed that could be added to Perle in order to render that room a twin (within the maximum occupancy of the property). If you would like to use this bed for an additional guest, please do contact us and we would be happy to check with the owner and confirm the supplement for this.

Reduced Occupancy

During the shoulder seasons, Masseria Gargallo has a reduced price for a group of up to 6 that only need up to 3 bedrooms. The bedroom not required will be closed, but the rest of the villa, its amenities and its grounds will remain at the complete disposal of guests. Should you book the reduced occupancy, bedrooms Perle, Ambra and Corallo will be prepared for you.

Inside

accommodation at Masseria Gargallo is spread over two lovingly restored floors. The ingenuity and invention of the interior design ensures that wherever you look, you’ll find something fascinating, something to make you smile in wonder: exquisitely embroidered table cloths and bedspreads from another era are illuminated by ultra-modern lighting; age-old, time-worn floors support state-of-the-art bathroom fittings; and antique, hand-painted Sicilian bedsteads frame the latest in mattress technology.

The main entrance takes one from a courtyard into the splendid living area, which is at once cosy, voluminous, welcoming and stylish. Once home to the wine press, evidence of which remains, this grand space features lofty ceilings, original stone flooring, an impressive fireplace, a TV and projector, modular sink-in sofas, and direct access to the outdoor sitting area and pool.

A door to one side of the living room leads into an attractive dining room, which is decorated with gilt-framed mirrors and antique plates, and served by a triple-sized kitchen-diner. Fully-equipped with all mod-cons, the kitchen nevertheless retains a distinctly traditional feel thanks to the presence the original red-brick floor, antique tiles, and an impressive pot-bellied wood-burning oven. Doors at either end of the kitchen create a luminous, airy atmosphere and provide seamless access to the al fresco dining area.

A short corridor leads from the kitchen past a guest bathroom to the first bedroom, called Perle (Pearls). Here, accessed by an old cast iron staircase, is a double bed on a mezzanine level, and, down below, a mightily impressive en-suite bathroom with giant walk-in shower and a tub with its own window overlooking the gardens.

Back in the living area, an open flight of stairs leads to the first floor and a double bedroom with balcony overlooking the courtyard. Ambra, as this bedroom has been named, also features a truly magnificent en-suite bathroom, complete with a reclaimed 15th-century font as a sink, a sensuously rotund tub and a separate walk-in shower.

Coming back down the stairs, a door in the living room leads to the third bedroom, Corallo, also accessed directly from the courtyard. As you might have come to expect by now, Corallo also boasts a highly original en-suite bathroom, this time with a sunken stone tub and a large, glass-cased shower.

The fourth and final bedroom, Acquamarina, is a double-twin accessed from the courtyard, and includes an in-room tub and an adjacent bathroom with shower.

Outside

Masseria Gargallo sits amidst an extensive, beautifully tended garden. To one side of the house is a large rectangular courtyard, at the centre of which is a landscaped area and a towering Mediterranean pine.

The grounds fan out around house, leading, eventually, to the focal point of the outdoor areas: two large expanses of lawn, planted with gnarled old olive trees, and sitting either side of the magnificent pool, whose steps and floor are formed of reclaimed stone.

Immediately outside the living room is the al fresco sitting area, furnished for lounging under a shady pergola. Further along this stone-paved terrace, which runs along the entire façade of the house, is the shady al fresco dining area. Accessed conveniently from the kitchen and offering views over the gardens and pool, it offers the perfect relaxing environment for long convivial meals.

Exploring the grounds you will come across a series of other delightful spots, including a second, walled courtyard, a small kitchen garden and an orchard.

After the earthquake of 1693, the southeast of Sicily was an enormous building site. Magnificent new baroque towns – including Noto, Modica, Ragusa and Scicli - were under construction, and in the countryside, farmhouses were being rebuilt and transformed into masserie, a new form of rural architecture.

The term masserie derives from the term “masserizia”, meaning general household possessions and assets (furniture, tools and machinery, livestock and crop stores). The new masserie, therefore, were designed to enclose all these elements within one construction, and many, especially those belonging to wealthy noble families, featured protective walls and defensive towers designed to keep out bandits. Thus, at the end of a day in the fields, the farm manager, the farmhands and the livestock would retire to the safe confines of their masserie.

One such fortified masserie is our villa, Masseria Gargallo, which was built at the end of the 17th century, just after the 1693 earthquake. It takes its name from its penultimate owner, Marquis Tommaso Gargallo, who purchased the estate in the early 19th century. The Marquis (Syracuse, 1760-1843) was a poet, scholar, landowner and local dignitary, whose noble ancestors had taken part in the Crusades. When not producing well-regarded translations of Horace, he dedicated himself to his estate and civic works, founding the town of Priolo Gargallo in 1807 and establishing a school in Syracuse soon after.

Masseria Gargallo, which is situated just to the west of Syracuse, was the focal point of an impressive agricultural estate. It boasted strong perimeter walls, a series of large storehouses gathered round stone-flagged courtyards, a monolithic millstone for pressing olives, and a winery, all of which has been lovingly preserved by the present owner.

One of the many interesting architectural elements of Masseria Gargallo is the presence of a Maltese Cross testifying to the Gargallo family’s allegiance to the Order of the Knights of Malta.

The present owner, artist and goldsmith Massimo Izzo, has brought Masseria Gargallo back to life, carefully conserving its original fabric and imaginatively reinterpreting its many charms. What we find today is an homage to Sicilian craftsmanship, an exaltation of local architectural traditions, and an exploration of how stone, wood, fabrics, lights, colours, sounds and scents may combine to create a unique, thoroughly Sicilian home.


An interview with Massimo Izzo, the owner of Masseria Gargallo

What’s the story behind your choice of the location where you bought your villa? Is there any personal connection? Any story about your search?

Masseria Gargallo is a rural, historical memory of the Syracuse area. An 18th-century fortified farmhouse, immersed in the countryside with its scents and sensations. Here I always breathe the essence of the land, of rural culture. I bought it because I was looking for a place to raise my son, who was then three years old. And I feel I have succeeded in creating a place that is memory and home for us.


What do you love most about the location?

The virginity of the land, the location. From my bedroom window, I can see the sea. And then breathe in the essence of the countryside


Who designed the house, and what were your specifications? What’s the philosophy behind the choice of materials, style, interior design, etc?

The philosophy of life is the one that has always been linked to my work too: Sicily in everything with contemporary design elements. It has allowed me to express my art, exactly as I do with a piece of jewellery: history, memory and stone. It was a conservative restoration project. The bedrooms are inspired by the four precious stones I love most and use in my jewellery.


How did you go about choosing furniture, colour schemes, etc for the villa?

I chose furniture and colours to pursue a blend of antique and modern. Period bedsteads are topped with technological mattresses for maximum comfort, then furnished with antique bedspreads, lace and Sicilian silks. Antique curtains in embroidered linen hang next to modern sofas covered in antique fabrics. For the exteriors, I chose Paola Lenti's marvellous colour and design alongside Sicilian ceramics. Overall and always: a hymn to my land.


Is there any item of furniture, artwork or design detail that you particularly love?

Everything, I feel pampered as if I were wearing a tailor-made suit. I love climbing the steps of the staircase with the matt pitchstone, walking on the floor of the mill and the kitchen, which is a room I love very much. And then the olive trees outside - one is 2,500 years old and that gives me the sense of time.


How do you “live” the villa? What do you do when you’re there?

For me, the morning is waking up and going out into the garden, with the sounds of nature and the sound of the swimming pool, which is made only from old, reclaimed stones. It has a musicality all of its own. The evening, on the other hand, I spend inside the house, with soft lighting and the fragrances of the food I cook.


What’s your favourite place to be in the villa?

My bedroom, from which I can enjoy the view of the sea and the garden and the rays of sunshine entering the shower at the right time.


When you arrive at the villa, what’s the first thing you do?

I enjoy the welcome of my olive trees from the illuminated avenue that leads me home. From the road I immediately identify the palm trees from afar, but then it is the olive trees that welcome me.


When you go to stay at your villa, what are the first dishes you cook?

Good pasta with tomato sauce and, of course, oil made from home-grown olives and fresh basil from the garden. As I travel a lot for work, these ingredients give me the feeling of being home.


What’s your favourite day out from the villa? The beach, the mountains, a village or town, etc?

I love cycling with my son, getting lost in the narrow lanes around the property. On our tours we often go to the deep gorge of Cavagrande with its small natural lakes. There, I stop to eat at a typical trattoria. But I also love the Plemmirio Nature reserve and Palazzolo Acreide, with its wonderful little Greek theatre. Authentic places far from tourist destinations.

You may wish to know that the pool has a single depth of 1.4m.