Iuta Farm

In the heart of the Val di Noto, among centuries-old olive trees, almonds and citrus groves, Iuta Farm grew out of the recovery of a historic agricultural property turned into a place where hospitality, nature and design coexist in balance. Those who arrive here are invited to slow down, letting the rhythm of the land, the Mediterranean light and the silence guide the stay.

The project takes shape from the vision of Elena Cicciù and Giulio Costa, who since 2017 have chosen to give this landscape new life without altering its identity. Their story begins far from Sicily, between Milan and Vicenza, and matures in the decision to return to their families' land of origin to build something lasting there. The interventions are few and measured: dry stone walls, terraces and existing buildings have been recovered, and the living spaces stay open to the nature around them. Even the estate's name tells this philosophy: iuta, like the plant fibre, evokes a bond of mutual dependence with the environment.

Iuta Farm is the result of the recovery of a historic, abandoned masseria, including dry-stone walls and historic terracing, turned into a place where architecture, nature and hospitality coexist in balance. The project unfolds across thirteen hectares of Mediterranean countryside, among the hills of the Iblei mountains, and alternates four Suites carved out of the masseria with five independent Lodges set among olives, citrus and almond trees: a contemporary take on glamping, where comfort speaks with the landscape rather than apart from it. Essential interiors, where cocciopesto, lime plaster, oxidised iron, terracotta, linen and custom-worked wood speak to that same care for what was already there. The regeneration project also addressed rainwater management: drainage channels and wooden grates were designed to direct water away without disturbing the landscape's design, while land-clearing work was carried out with respect for the existing plant species.

At the heart of the estate is the salt-water pool, conceived as a true open-air square. This is where guests come together throughout the day, between moments of rest, reading, conversation and sunset aperitivi, often by a lit fire on cooler evenings. Life at Iuta unfolds around this shared space, at a slow pace that naturally invites you to unwind.

The experience continues at the table, where the kitchen accompanies the whole day, from breakfast to dinner, with a largely vegetarian menu built around produce from the vegetable garden, the estate's own extra-virgin olive oil and ingredients from the territory, following a zero-kilometre philosophy that makes the most of what the land offers season by season. The veranda, the poolside, ringed with rosemary and lavender, and the outdoor spaces become convivial settings where the food tells the story of Sicily through simple, seasonal, carefully grown ingredients.

The same slow rhythm carries through to wellness, as much a part of the project as the kitchen or the architecture. Walking among the olive trees, reaching the wooden platform halfway up the hillside for an outdoor yoga session, treating yourself to a massage, stopping to read under a tree or simply taking in the landscape: at Iuta, these aren't extra activities, but the very way the estate interprets hospitality. The real comfort here is having time and space around you, in direct contact with nature.

Iuta Farm sits within one of south-eastern Sicily's most representative landscapes, where the Baroque heritage of the Val di Noto's late-Baroque towns, recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site, meets an agricultural tradition that still shapes the land. Olives, almonds, carobs and citrus groves trace a mosaic of crops that has defined this part of the island — its landscape and its cultural identity — for centuries.

Its closeness to Noto, the Vendicari Nature Reserve, the Cavagrande Reserve, Marzamemi and Syracuse makes the property a privileged starting point for exploring a territory where architecture, nature and culture sit in balance. Keeping the estate's agricultural vocation alive strengthens its bond with the place: the vegetable garden, the oil and the Mediterranean herbs it produces become an integral part of the stay. It's no coincidence that Iuta Farm has been repeatedly featured in the trade press, from Elle Decor to the Michelin guide, as one of the benchmarks for a new idea of rural hospitality in Sicily, one that pairs contemporary aesthetics with care for the landscape.

What remains of a stay at Iuta Farm are a few precise images: the saltwater pool lived as a village square, the scent of citrus, the low light on the olive trees at the end of the day. It is in the sum of these everyday gestures that the old masseria recovers its oldest meaning, that of a place where the day is organised around the land and its seasons.