Salt air drifts up from the Tyrrhenian coast and settles over a cluster of stone houses that have stood on this hilltop since long before anyone thought to call Sicily a vacation destination. From one particular bedroom window in Tusa, you look out and the sea just opens up in front of you, a wide blue ribbon stretching toward the horizon while swallows loop over the terracotta rooftops below. It is the kind of view that makes you stop mid sentence.
Now picture stepping out onto a roof terrace that has already been closed in by a previous owner, just waiting for a couple of skylights and a set of glass doors to become your own private box seat for sunsets over the Mediterranean. That is exactly what one of the houses we toured in Tusa offers, and it is only one of several ancient homes we walked through that day, each with its own personality, price tag, and potential.
Why We Went Looking in Tusa, Sicily
Before we retired to Sicily in 2019, we ran a real estate company back in California, and my professional experience in the industry goes back to 1988. Looking at real estate here is a completely different animal, and that is exactly the perspective we wanted to bring to you as we walked through Tusa’s centro storico (historic center).
Tusa sits high in the mountains, which means you get sweeping views of neighboring villages and peaks, and on a clear day you can even spot Mount Etna smoking away in the distance. The sea is just a ten minute drive down the hill, and the marina at Tusa is gorgeous. Our favorite bakery, Pino’s, sits right there by the water.
Walking Through the Ancient Streets of Tusa
Wandering these lanes, you pass under an arched stone gate that was once part of the medieval city walls. At the highest point of town sit the ruins of a palazzo (a grand historic residence) dating back to the 1300s, once one of the main homes of the noble Ventimiglia family.
The Church of Mary of the Assumption is bordered by ornamental stone, with side portals in the Baroque style and a central portal in late Gothic style. Inside, sculptures of saints and prophets watch over a wooden choir loft, and beneath the altar there is a crypt where local priests were once buried.
Casa Bella, the Palazzo Where the Tour Begins
Our first stop was Casa Bella, a palazzo with approximately 3,400 square feet (about 316 square meters) of living space plus a basement. The rooms are huge, roughly 300 square feet (about 28 square meters) each, with 12 foot coved ceilings that make you feel small in the best possible way.
The floors are custom made ceramic tiles, hand painted by local artisans to match the color chosen for each room’s walls. This one is listed at €120,000, and it is by far the grandest of the properties we saw that day.
The Three-House Bundle with an Arab-Era Well
A few streets over, we found an unusual opportunity for the courageous of heart, three connected addresses sold together as one package for €40,000. They share a tiny courtyard with a well built during the Arab occupation, which goes back more than a thousand years and is still standing.
Look up from that courtyard and you will spot a roof terrace with a completely unobstructed panoramic view over the town and beyond. It needs work, but the bones and the history here are remarkable.
The Hilltop House with a Bedroom View Worth Waking Up To
This next house had one of those moments that just stops you in your tracks, standing at the bedroom window looking out at a gorgeous, unobstructed panorama. The asking price is €25,000, though we believe it could realistically be negotiated down to around €20,000.
Inside you will find an old wood burning oven and a kitchen that clearly needs renovation to bring it up to modern standards. The real surprise is on the top floor, where one wall of the kitchen is actually the ancient stone wall of the monastery next door, now turned into a museum of mosaics.
An Honest Look at the €8,000 Fixer-Upper
Not every stone house in Tusa is move-in ready, and we wanted to show you one that genuinely needs serious work. At €8,000 the price is tempting, but the walls are visibly leaning and the renovation costs to correct that kind of structural issue can add up fast.
We also passed a nearby home already renovated by a Swiss family, where every balcony had to be rebuilt with new iron supports and marble flooring. It is a good preview of what a full stone house renovation actually involves.
The Corner House Where the Sea View Steals the Show
Of all the homes needing renovation, this corner house needed the least. It is solid, it sits on the corner of two streets so light pours in from three sides instead of just one, and out back there is a beautiful sea view.
The roof terrace here has already been closed in and re-roofed by the previous owner, though it is closed a bit too tightly for our taste. Adding a couple of skylights between the beams and swapping one small window for full length glass doors would flood the space with light and open up a gorgeous panorama of the Mediterranean, all for very little renovation cost.
Listed at €25,000, with most of the heavy structural work already done, we think this one could be a truly incredible home for around €40,000 once the finishing touches are complete.
Property Highlights in Tusa, Sicily
- Ancient hilltop town with mountain views, a ten minute drive from the sea and the Tusa marina
- Architectural styles spanning Baroque, Arab-Norman, Aragonese, and Roman influences throughout the centro storico
- Casa Bella palazzo with about 3,400 square feet (about 316 square meters) plus a basement, 12 foot coved ceilings, and hand painted ceramic tile floors
- Three-house bundle sharing a courtyard with a thousand-year-old Arab-era well and a rooftop panoramic terrace
- Hilltop house with a stunning bedroom window view, an antique wood burning oven, and an ancient monastery wall inside the kitchen
- Corner house with a sea view, natural light from three sides, and a closed-in roof terrace ready for skylights
- A raw fixer-upper for buyers ready to take on a full structural renovation
- Watch the full tour of these Tusa stone houses
- Featured in Episode 9
- Asking prices range from €8,000 to €120,000
Please note: our property tours stay online long after filming, and homes like this tend to sell quickly, so this one may no longer be available. If it has already sold, we can still help you find something similar. Tell us your dream, and we’ll help make it real.
A Word on Sicily’s One Euro House Schemes
You have probably heard about the famous one euro house programs scattered across Italy, including several right here on Sicily. My honest advice as a real estate professional is that in most cases, it is simply not worth it.
You are usually required to put down a sizable deposit, often at least €5,000, which the local municipality holds and only returns once your renovation passes inspection within a set window of one to three years. If you miss that window or run into the bureaucracy that tends to come with it, you lose your deposit.
What we showed you in Tusa is the alternative we actually recommend, real homes with real history, at prices that do not lock your money away in a municipal treasury.
Concluding Thoughts on Sea Views and Ancient Stone in Tusa
Tusa is one of those towns that rewards you the moment you start walking its streets. Between the Baroque church facade, the Arab-era well, and the medieval palazzo ruins, every corner has a story attached to it.
But it is that sea view, glimpsed from a bedroom window or framed by a future set of terrace doors, that really stays with you. It is the kind of view that turns a fixer-upper into a dream home in your imagination before you even finish touring it.
Whether your budget points you toward the grand palazzo at €120,000 or the corner house with sea views closer to €25,000, Tusa offers a genuine range of entry points into Sicilian life. We left that day already thinking about which house we would pick for ourselves.
If ancient architecture, mountain air, and a sea view down the hill sound like your version of la dolce vita (the sweet life), Tusa deserves a spot on your list.
