In summer, around seven, guests start heading up to the roof: one with a glass, one with a book, one with children still wet from the sea.
Until a few years ago, all that was up there were the water tanks.
The house grandfather Giocondo built
Grandfather Giocondo built this house, and for three generations it was full of people. We are Erleta and Sandro: Sandro is from Mazara, he grew up in this house, and part of the family still lives next door.
In summer the grandchildren were all here: lunch at the grandparents’, the afternoon at Zia Vita’s in the flat next door, the rest of the time down in the garden under the loquat tree. We swam at Tonnarella, like everyone in Mazara — eight minutes by car, turquoise water and pale silver sand — and came back for dinner with the sand still on us. It’s still like that, and we’ll tell you where to park.
Then the children grew up
And, as happens in Sicily, they left — until at some point there were more rooms than people.
We could have shut the house and come back at Christmas. We chose to reopen it instead. Four apartments came out of it: we redid what needed redoing — wiring, bathrooms, kitchens — and left alone what already worked.
The terrace was Erleta’s idea
On the roof, as we said, there were the tanks, and in three generations no one had ever done anything with it: you only went up when something broke.
Then Erleta arrived, who did not grow up in Mazara. She went up, looked at the sea and said: this view is stunning, why don’t we make a terrace up here?
Sometimes it takes someone who isn’t from here to see what has always been in front of you.
We moved the tank down to the cellar and added six more — seven 1,000-litre tanks with a pressure pump, so the water never runs out. Then the hot water, the two showers, the loungers, the barbecue. Today it’s the part of the house that gets used the most.
The sea view opens from the panoramic terrace on the roof. The apartments face the inner courtyard or the seafront side street instead.
The garden is now the car park
Most of it, at least. The loquat tree stayed, though, and in early summer it still fruits: they’re good, and some guests help themselves.
Every winter we improve something
For seven years guests have come from all over Europe, and every season they teach us something. In winter, when the house is empty, we turn our hand to something — a bit at a time.
Many arrive thinking the apartments have just been renovated. They haven’t. It’s just that we’ve never stopped looking after them.
Why we tell you everything
We describe the apartments as they are, even when it doesn’t suit us. None has a sea view. Two balconies are for drying, not for dinner. The terrace is shared: on an August evening, up there, you’ll meet the other guests.
The beach in front of the house is the city beach. For swimming it isn’t the best, and in fact we’ll send you to Tonnarella. But our own children prefer this one: coloured stones to find, fishing, climbing the rocks looking for adventures. If you come with children, they’ll probably side with ours.
In return there are the things you’ll discover on arrival: the split bathroom in every apartment, so five of you get ready without a queue. And the water that doesn’t run out, even in August.
We’re telling you now, so there are no surprises when you arrive.
The best part
We tell you where we eat, what time to go to the fish market, which beach is worth the drive. Sandro grew up on this street: it’s not something you learn from a guidebook.
At seven, if we’re not out on our bikes, you’ll find us on the terrace.
And if you do triathlon: there’s a club in Mazara, and here you’ll find a training partner.
See you on the terrace.