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. More than a retreat in the Sicilian countryside, it's an invitation 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. Here, the architecture doesn't try to impose itself, but accompanies the land with discretion, building a continuous dialogue between the inhabited spaces and 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 agricultural property — dry-stone walls and historic terracing included — turned into a place where architecture, nature and hospitality coexist in balance. The project unfolds across thirteen hectares of Mediterranean countryside and alternates four Suites carved out of the masseria with five 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 and custom-worked wood speak to that same care for what was already there.

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. 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. 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. Here, luxury coincides with time, space and the chance to re-establish an authentic relationship 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 UNESCO towns 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, 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.

Some places stay with you for what they show, others for how they make you feel: Iuta Farm belongs to the second kind. A project that reads contemporary hospitality through landscape, simplicity and the value of time, showing how design can become a quiet tool for re-establishing an authentic relationship with nature.