Reviewed by Michael Cullen
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TALIA - REVIEW
Talia means "Look!" in Sicilian dialect – and you'll have to look hard to find this gorgeous guesthouse, camouflaged inside old stone houses on Modica's tiered hillside. No hotel signs, no reception, but wave your magnetic card in front of the stone wall and a concealed sensor will unlock a rustic door. Step into the hidden garden, dripping with fat figs and plums, white lilies and pink anemones, and - Talia! The tight-packed houses and ornate churches of this stunning Unesco-listed town are spread like an amphitheatre at your feet.
Marco and Viviana, architects from Milan, spent 3 years creating their dream home, fusing natural materials (recycled roof tiles, pressed-iron beds, old oak chairs) with the subtlest of modern technology. Bedrooms get cane ceilings above luscious mustard or cerulean walls, and faded floor-tiles beside gleaming chrome-glass wetrooms. It's their homage to 'slow living' - they add one cottage each year - and a sublimely peaceful retreat among Italy's finest Baroque towns and sandy beaches. |
