Lines of beauty: a renovated farmhouse in Sicily

Photographs by Monica Spezia

Noto has enjoyed a boom among second-home searchers and new-found tourist fame in recent years, thanks in large part to the second series of the phenomenally successful The White Lotus, which was set in a luxury Sicilian resort. But Sciortino was ahead of the curve. The 63-year-old artist and his creative director husband, Maurizio Zucchi, discovered their retreat 25 years ago, having holidayed around Sciortino’s native Sicily (he is from Palermo) in hot pursuit of a place to call home.

“We spent a couple of years in search of a house,” Sciortino says. “But somehow we always ended our searches and holidays in the countryside around Noto. In 2000, we decided that perhaps this was the right area for us and coming across this long-abandoned farmhouse joyfully concluded our search.”

While the search was long, the criteria were specific. “We were looking for an old structure in authentic countryside, but still close enough to Noto and the Vendicari nature reserve, and this place had both,” he says.

Immersed in agricultural landscape and surrounded by olive, lemon and orange groves, the main limestone and plaster structure dates back to the late 1800s. A second, two-storey building was added at some point in the 20th century and forms an unusual L-shaped plot.

Once a traditional farmhouse with an olive press and stables, the couple embarked on a sensitive three-year project to restore the plot into the luxury masseria it is today.

“We didn’t add any new volumes, but the intervention was significant,” Sciortino says of the space. “We updated the structure to accommodate new functions, while trying to maintain the building’s original patina.”

As a result, walls are a mix of untouched crumbling plaster and cement from other eras of home improvement. The couple was intent on keeping the peeling patches of masonry and underfoot textures that spoke to the building’s history.

“We used antique Noto stone for the older part of the house and handmade cement tiles from a local artisan for the early 20th-century section, in respect of the different time periods,” Sciortino says. “Where new interventions were necessary, we didn’t want to fake them as old but rather chose to highlight them – using contemporary materials such as concrete.”

Countered with sculpted white-washed walls, the open-plan aesthetic is one that looks much like a modern art gallery; a popular juxtaposition now, but one that was pioneering in rural Sicily in the early noughties, when they completed their renovations.

While “the dream, research, and initial concept” were developed as a couple, the pair enlisted the local architect – and now friend – Corrado Papa to help them realise their plans. “He helped us bring the project to life,” Sciortino says. “Corrado updated the home while preserving that aged charm we were afraid of losing during the renovation.”

Case in point, the couple’s open-air dining room, which was a ruin on first inspection. “What was unexpected was stepping through a small door into the older part of the house and finding ourselves in a large space where the roof had completely collapsed,” Sciortino says. “It instantly reminded me of the church of Santa Maria dello Spasimo in Palermo.”

They decided to incorporate the fallen-in space and make it the heartbeat of the home. “It’s now where we host magical dinners under the stars,” he says of what is, by his own admission, his favourite spot in his home.

The completion of the project in 2003 coincided with Sciortino’s career shift from dancer and choreographer to an artist specialising in iron and, as a result, his Noto home is a living extension of his artistic practice. Pieces he has made for the space or designed as commissions for home-design brands, including Serax, Baxter and La Cividina, are complemented with vintage furniture by Eames, lighting by Achille Castiglioni for Flos and huge windows that act like ever-changing canvases.

“The nature surrounding the house was one of the reasons we chose it,” he says. “Interestingly, the years of abandonment allowed plants to grow in unusual places, which makes them even more special, like the pomegranate tree right in front of the kitchen door.”

Having incorporated a workshop into their home, the couple now spends six months here, spread out over the year, dedicating their days to design and extending the invitation to welcome their clients as guests. “The beauty and freedom of this place are a great gift,” says Sciortino.