Villa Tasca

The origins of Villa Camastra, later Villa Tasca, go back to the mid-fifteenth century, the villa's layout to the sixteenth (the founding dates quoted by the family run from 1555 to 1559), and in 1788 the Marchese di Villabianca described it as a "villa of delights" with a garden "thick with every kind of shading tree". The turning point came in the nineteenth century: in 1840 Ferdinand II gave the title of countess to Beatrice Lanza e Branciforte, daughter of the Prince of Trabia, and she and her husband Lucio Tasca, first Count of Almerita, transformed the Italian garden between 1855 and 1870 into a romantic park of subtropical plants, inspired by Palermo's Botanical Garden.

The family lives here, and you can tell: there is no reception desk, there is a house that opens its best rooms for a few nights.

The villa keeps three musical autographs that tell you who passed through: ten bars of a Rossini waltz, given to the countess in Florence in 1853; an autograph of Verdi's "Boccanegra", dedicated to her in Naples in 1858; and Richard Wagner's "Tempo di Porazzi", dated 20 March 1882, the day the Wagner family left Palermo after the winter in which the composer had finished Parsifal: it is the last piece Wagner wrote, and the family still points to the Music Room on the piano nobile as the place where he worked on part of the opera. Other guests the house remembers: Ferdinand of Bourbon and Queen Caroline, Bismarck, Margherita of Savoy, Jacqueline Kennedy.

Since 2019 the house has been run by Giuseppe and Luisa Tasca. In 2022 the villa was the set for the second season of "The White Lotus", hosting the night out of the two friends escaping the hotel: in the series it is in Noto, in reality it is in Palermo.

Getting there

Villa Tasca is at Viale Regione Siciliana Sud-Est 399, on the road climbing from Palermo to Monreale, inside the city but enclosed in its park: the historic centre is a quarter of an hour by car, Falcone e Borsellino airport some thirty kilometres away. The house arranges airport pick-up, taxis and car hire on request. Monreale, with its cathedral and mosaics, is a few minutes in the opposite direction.

The four suites

There are four bedrooms, all with marble bathrooms, air conditioning and a view of the park, bookable individually or together, with the villa taken exclusively. On the ground floor the Blue Suite, with antique furniture, a small private outdoor space and, next to it, a reading room with the family's period library; and the Pink Suite, the most intimate, with a majolica floor and a connecting private sitting room.

On the fully frescoed piano nobile, the Contessa Suite is the Tasca counts' master bedroom: frescoed from floor to ceiling, with a Sicilian majolica floor, a "secret" door to the boudoir and a direct connection to the Music Room. The Maiolica Suite, the largest and brightest in the villa, has an eighteenth-century majolica floor by Attanasio, two French beds and a private sitting room. Eight guests in all.

The piano nobile, the terraces, the pool

The reception hall has walls and vaults painted with bucolic landscapes, and on the same floor is the Music Room with the piano. Two terraces look over the park: the large terrace with blue-and-white majolica, and under the arch a patio with an ancient mosaic floor. In the garden, among rocks and palms, a pool with loungers on the lawn.

What the stay includes

Hospitality includes reception and concierge, breakfast, daily cleaning and a change of linen every three days. With the villa taken exclusively, a chef and a butler are present every day, with food and wine charged separately. On request: extra staff, laundry, massages, yoga and pilates, guided excursions in Palermo. The house's own experiences are a guided tour of the garden, exclusive lunches and dinners, Tasca d'Almerita wine tastings, cooking classes and private concerts.

The romantic garden

The garden, about two hectares according to the Italian census of historic gardens (agencies say eight, counting the whole estate of citrus groves), is one of the most cited examples of Sicilian Romanticism: the little lake dug in the 1840s, the classical temple with grotto and waterfall designed by Francesco Paolo Palazzotto around 1888, winding paths between Canary palms, ficus magnolioides, giant acacias, dracaenas, cycads, bamboo and papyrus. Count Lucio, a member of several scientific and agricultural societies, wanted it as a private botanical garden. It can be visited by appointment only, and for the villa's guests it is the garden of the house.

When to go

Palermo is at its best from March to June and from September to November; in high summer the heat is strong, but the shaded park and the pool make the villa more liveable than the centre. December and January are mild and quiet, with the garden still green: for a stay of city and food, not of sea, it is a season worth considering.

Who it is for, and who it is not for

It is the right choice for a couple or a group of friends of up to eight who want to sleep in an aristocratic house that is still lived in, with the family's kitchen and cellar, and Palermo and Monreale a quarter of an hour away. It is not the right choice for anyone looking for the beach (Mondello is half an hour away, not below the house) or the services of a large hotel: there is no spa, no restaurant open to the public, there is a family with its staff.

Rates and conditions

Rates are requested directly from the villa and depend on the formula, by the room or exclusive, and on the season. The minimum stay varies between two and three nights depending on the period and the booking channel: to be confirmed when you enquire.