Salt air drifts up from the marina below while you stand on a bedroom balcony in the old village, and there, right across the water, are the Aeolian Islands sitting on the horizon like they were placed there just for you. Yachts drift slowly along the coastline from one point to another, and you can watch the whole scene unfold while your morning coffee is still warm.
That is the kind of moment we get to hand you today, and honestly it is one of the reasons we love doing what we do. We are taking you through three completely different properties in the same corner of Sicily, each one built for a different kind of buyer and a different kind of dream.
One is ready for you to unpack your bags today. One is a renovation project with a sea view that will stop you in your tracks. And one is raw land with an olive grove, a stone house, and a history that goes back further than most of us can imagine.
Why We Keep Finding These Hidden Gems
Before we get into the properties, we want to explain a bit about where we come from, because it matters. Carlo became a professional real estate investor back in 1988, long before either of us ever thought about Italy.
Over the years I owned apartment complexes and many homes, did fix and flip projects, and was a licensed general contractor in California, so I have built homes from the ground up. Jeia and I later opened our own real estate company together, and we sold it in 2019 when we retired to Sicily.
We mention this because there are a lot of cheap houses in Italy videos out there, but we look at every property the way an investor looks at a deal. Great bones, fair price, real upside, that is the filter everything has to pass through before we bring it to you.
Casa Margarita, a Move-In Ready Home in the Village
Casa Margarita is the property for anyone who does not want to deal with renovation headaches at all. This is a local home in genuinely good shape, and it surprised us in the best way.
Two Bright Bedrooms and a Bathroom Already Up to Modern Standard
The first bedroom is adequate in size, currently set up with two twin beds, and the finishes throughout are in very good condition. There is a handy little storage nook tucked under the stairs too.
The bathroom is small but perfectly functional, with a compact shower that is fully up to modern standard. The stairs have good railings and even marble steps, and the walls are well painted with just a couple of small imperfections to touch up.
The second bedroom is a good size as well, and it opens onto a little balcony looking down over a cobblestone street lined with a neighbor’s lemon garden.
An Open Kitchen and Living Space Full of Natural Light
The main living area combines dining and cooking into one open space, and because this is a corner house, natural light pours in from multiple directions. You barely need to turn a light on during the day.
The kitchen has local-standard laminate cabinetry that works fine as is, though we would not blame you for swapping it out with something from IKEA or Bricoman down the road for very little cost.
There is even a partial glimpse of a sea view from inside if you look closely, and the beginning of a staircase that could one day lead up to a roof deck with a full sea view of its own.
The Corner Balcony Overlooking Cobblestone Streets and Lemon Trees
Step out onto the main balcony and you get a real sense of village life, cobblestone underfoot, an old lemon garden right next door, and the quiet rhythm of a small Sicilian town going about its day.
The exterior plasterwork is finished and in good condition, and honestly there is not much left to do here. The asking price is €45,000, and we have already spoken to the seller, who indicated there is a little room to negotiate.
Casa Sena, a Renovation Project with Sea Views of the Aeolian Islands
If you are the type who gets excited about potential rather than intimidated by it, Casa Sena is going to get under your skin. This is a genuine fixer-upper, but the opportunity here is hard to overstate.
Original Tile Floors and a Layout Built for Two Master Suites
The home is over 93 square meters (about 1,000 square feet), with two bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms spread across a layout of two rooms per floor, which is a rare and welcome arrangement in these old village homes.
Some of the original floor tiles are still here and they are beautiful, though loose, which means the subfloor will need to be leveled with a mortar bed before they go back down or get replaced. The kitchen floor has already had this work done.
One bedroom has an annex space with its own natural light from a window, which could become a second bathroom, while the other side could serve as a closet or armadio (wardrobe), giving you essentially two master suites in one home.
The location sits right off a small piazza (town square) with an ancient fountain that still runs fresh mountain water. The sellers here have not set a fixed price, they want buyers to bring an offer, and we have insight into how far that negotiation can realistically go.
An Ancient Wood-Burning Oven Waiting to Be Restored
The kitchen still has its original wood-burning oven, the kind you restore and actually use rather than replace. Between that and the ancient ceramic tiles throughout, this house has real character worth preserving.
The roof, which is typically the single biggest expense on a project like this, has already been redone with new beams, crossmembers, and tile. Any water staining you see on the walls is old damage from before that roof work was completed.
Windows and exterior doors have also been replaced in recent years, so you likely will not need to touch those either.
The Terrazzo, Where the Sea View Steals the Show
Step out onto the terrazzo (rooftop terrace) off the kitchen and the whole reason this property is special becomes obvious. This is not just a balcony, it is real usable square footage where you can imagine sitting down to eat alfresco while watching yachts pass along the Mediterranean horizon.
From the bedroom balcony you also get a clear, plain view of the Aeolian Islands, along with a former convent turned ceramics museum in the near distance. A small garden plot with an orange tree is deeded into the sale too, so you can grow your own orto (vegetable garden) and keep an eye on it right from the balcony.
Down below sits the Castel di Tusa marina, about ten minutes away through the olive groves. This is the kind of view that money genuinely cannot recreate.
The Land with Character, Featuring Olive Groves, a Stone House, and an Ancient Wine Press
Saving the best for last is basically our tradition at this point, and this piece of land earns that spot. You get one hectare (about 2.5 acres) of your own olive grove, fruit trees, and history.
A Stone House Ready for New Life
There is a small two-room stone house on the property that could be renovated into a livable retreat. Building an entirely new structure here would run into complicated Italian bureaucracy, but renovating the existing stone building is a far simpler path.
There is no well on site, but the abundance of ferns growing nearby tells us water is present and accessible. A stunning Mediterranean sea view stretches out from the property, and punching a new window into that stone house would let you take full advantage of it.
The Ancient Grape Press and a Working Olive Grove
Scattered across the land are chestnut trees, citrus trees, and nespole (loquats), which grow plentifully in this region. The olive grove alone should produce well over a hundred liters of extra virgin olive oil a year, possibly double that, even though the trees have been neglected and need pruning.
We would suggest pruning in thirds each year so you always have a harvest coming in rather than losing a full season at once. Tucked into the landscape is an ancient stone grape press, carved right out of the rock, where grapes were once crushed by foot and the juice flowed into a stone cistern for wine making.
The land is relatively flat, bordered by a paved road with no potholes, and it sits right on the edge of a national forest, the Madonie, which means no one will ever build next to you. Camping is legally permitted here too, so if you want to visit before committing to anything, you can pitch a tent or bring an RV and just live in the view for a while.
Property Highlights in Tusa, Sicily
- Casa Margarita: move-in ready village home with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a corner balcony, and a partial sea view glimpse
- Casa Margarita: hard finishes already up to modern standard, negotiable price
- Casa Sena: renovation project over 93 square meters (about 1,000 square feet), two bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms
- Casa Sena: direct sea view of the Aeolian Islands from the bedroom balcony and rooftop terrazzo, a deeded garden plot, and a brand-new roof already installed
- Casa Sena: no fixed asking price, sellers are open to offers
- Land with Character: one hectare (about 2.5 acres) of olive grove, a two-room stone house, an ancient grape press, chestnut and citrus trees, and a Mediterranean sea view bordering a national forest
- Watch the full property tour
- Featured in Episode 19
- Asking price: €45,000 (Casa Margarita)
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 Quick Note on Rural Internet in Sicily
A viewer recently asked us what internet service is actually like out here, and it is a fair question. Our first couple of years came with some expensive lessons, since a few providers assumed Americans meant unlimited budgets and charged us accordingly for mediocre service.
If you live right in one of these mountain towns, fiber optic is being rolled out and it is quite reasonably priced. Since we live more out in the country, we ended up going with Starlink instead.
There is a startup kit cost, which used to run around €400 though we have heard it is now free countrywide in Italy, plus about €40 a month after that. We have had it for over a year now and have been very happy with it.
Three Paths to Your Sicilian Paradise
Three properties, three completely different ways of getting to the same place. Casa Margarita hands you a finished home in a quiet village for €45,000, ready the moment you get the keys.
Casa Sena asks a little more of you, but rewards that effort with original details, a brand-new roof already paid for, and a sea view over the Aeolian Islands that we genuinely think about long after we leave the terrazzo.
And the land with character offers something else entirely, a slower kind of dream built on olive oil, ancient stone, and a Mediterranean view with no neighbors ever going to interrupt it.
Whichever one speaks to you, we hope this gave you a real feel for what is out there right now in Tusa. If any of these get under your skin the way they got under ours, do not wait too long to find out more.
