Salt air and mountain wind meet on a narrow street in Tusa, and from a shuttered upstairs window you can just make out the outline of the medieval village of Pollina hanging on its own hilltop, with the blue of the Mediterranean spreading out beyond it. That is the view waiting behind a stuck set of shutters in this pair of adjoining houses, a view so good we almost forgot to mention the price. Almost.
We keep saying it on every tour, but this one really tests the limit of what la dolce vita (the sweet life) can cost in Sicily. Two separate houses, sharing a wall and a story, can be yours for €12,000, and that number is negotiable. Yes, there is real work to do here. But the bones are solid, the character is everywhere, and the view alone is the kind of thing people spend years chasing in this region.
Two Houses, One Extraordinary Price in Tusa
Tusa sits roughly 614 meters (about 2,000 feet) above the sea, an old mountain town with a bell tower, an ancient castle wall, and the kind of romantic stone walkways that make you slow your pace without meaning to.
This particular listing is actually two adjacent small houses, each with its own entrance, sold together as one opportunity. We toured both, room by room, and there is a lot more here than the price tag suggests.
The Ground Floor and Its Solid Stone Waiting for a Project
The first entry brings you into a space with an old, low-capacity electrical panel and open beam ceilings overhead. The beams are not perfect, but they are solid, and we did not find any sponginess in the floors.
There is a small room that could easily become a half bath or a laundry room, plus a large ripostiglio (storage closet) and another closet tucked under the staircase. A door we could not get open near the entry turned out to connect to the other house, something we circled back to later in the tour.
The Finished Lower Level, Already Tiled and Ready to Live In
Head down two stairs and you land in the one room that is genuinely move-in ready. The plaster is finished, painted, and paired with a new diamond pattern tile floor that continues up one full wall.
There is already a spot plumbed for a sink, which makes this an obvious candidate for a future kitchen. A narrow alleyway runs alongside for an air conditioning unit, and the open beams up here are in noticeably good shape, likely chestnut or oak under the paint.
The stone walls throughout this level run close to three feet thick, which tells you everything about how these houses were built to last. There is even an old stone basin by one of the entrances with a rubinetto (faucet) still attached, purely charming at this point but a nice detail to keep.
The Marble Staircase and a Bedroom Fit for a Suite
Upstairs, the same diamond tile continues, though it needs a massetto (mortar bed) in one spot to level out a dip before the flooring can carry through evenly. The roof over this section has already been redone, which removes one of the bigger expenses buyers usually have to budget for.
There is a nice sized room up here with light from two sides and a small balcony, the kind of space that would make a lovely master suite. A half bath overlooks the street below, fully renovated with fresh tile.
Because this was originally two separate houses, there are two separate staircases too, which means real privacy between spaces, or two rentable units if that is the direction you want to take it.
The Sea and Mountain Views That Steal the Show
Here is the moment that changes how you think about this property. Several of the shutters would not open during the tour, the cords had broken over the years, but from outside you can see exactly what is hiding behind them.
It is a sweeping mountain view paired with a genuine Mediterranean sea view, plus a clear look at the medieval village of Pollina sitting on its own ridge in the distance. This is coastal Sicily at its most cinematic, and it belongs to a €12,000 house.
Picture your morning coffee on that little balcony, mountains on one side, the sea catching the light on the other, and a centuries old village silhouette in between. That is not a stretch here. That is just Tuesday.
The Rooftop Room Facing Pollina and the Mediterranean
The second house climbs three floors instead of two, finished off with a proper marble staircase that feels almost unexpected given the rest of the project. At the very top there is one more room and bathroom, with a small section of shared terrace that unfortunately does not belong to this property.
Inside that top room, the sea view opens right up in front of you, with Pollina visible in the distance across the valley. The plan for this space is simple, add frosted glass and a window that opens for cross ventilation, and you get light, air, and one of the best vantage points in the whole property.
The bathroom up here is brand new, freshly tiled, though we did spot an active stress crack in one wall. It is tied to roof damage that let water in and expand against the stone, so it is a real item for the renovation budget, not just cosmetic.
What This Project Really Needs
We like to be upfront about what a place like this actually requires, because a €12,000 price tag never tells the whole story. All the doors and windows throughout both houses need to be replaced.
The roof section over the second house has not been redone and will need attention, though access to it is straightforward, which keeps that job manageable. Plumbing is already roughed in for two full bathrooms, which saves a meaningful chunk of the work.
Add the purchase price, your closing costs, and a full renovation budget together before you get excited about that headline number. It is still an extraordinary deal for what you get, just go in with eyes open.
Property Highlights in Tusa, Sicily
- Two adjacent houses sold together, each with its own private entrance
- 110+ square meters (1,180+ square feet) combined interior space
- 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms across both structures
- Sweeping mountain and Mediterranean sea views, plus a distant view of Pollina
- Open beam ceilings in chestnut or oak throughout much of the house
- Marble staircase in the second house
- Finished lower level with new diamond pattern tile and a plumbed sink spot for a kitchen
- Roof already replaced over part of the first house
- Plumbing roughed in for two full bathrooms
- Located in Tusa, a mountain village near Pollina in the province of Messina
- Watch the full property tour
- Featured in Episode 36
- Asking price: €12,000 (negotiable)
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.
Wrapping Up an Affordable Sicilian Project Worth Chasing
We have toured a lot of houses in this price range, and it is rare to find one with a view this good attached to it. Two houses, two entrances, and a sea and mountain outlook that most people would pay ten times this price to wake up to.
Yes, there is a real renovation ahead. Doors, windows, a roof section, and that stress crack all need attention before this place is finished.
But the structure is sound, the character is everywhere, from the open beams to the marble staircase to the thick stone walls, and the location puts you close to the coast without losing that quiet mountain town feel.
If you have ever wanted to see what €12,000 can actually buy in Sicily, this is exactly the kind of property that answers the question.
