A grand, decaying Sicilian house undergoes a remarkable restoration

The story of Rocca delle Tre Contrade, a beautiful ruined house in Sicily turned into an idyllic 12-bedroom holiday house, is one of romance, but also of bloody-minded determination. It begins 16 years ago when owner Jon Moslet established a business exporting little-known Italian wines to Scandinavia. For this, he travelled around mainland Italy and also Sicily, where he was intrigued by the number of abandoned properties in the countryside - the consequence of a decline in agriculture and resulting economic depression. 'I am a curious person, so if I had time to spare, I would take a turn down a country lane and have a look. I thought it would be wonderful to find a property and restore it.'

Happily, Jon's partner Marco Scire, with whom he lives in Milan, agreed and together they began a five-year search that took in around a hundred properties. 'At first, it was an idea rather than a plan,' explains Jon. 'But gradually, we became more practical and honed in on a particularly beautiful and verdant area around Mount Etna, on the east coast of the island.'

The couple first saw Tre Contrade when viewing a neighbouring property. 'We jumped the fence, had a look around and immediately knew that it was the place,' recalls Jon. 'It is on top of a hill with incredible views of the untouched landscape and the Ionian Sea. There is this atmosphere of peace, well-being and freedom. Even now, it feels exactly as it did that first time.'

The house, which was once surrounded by vineyards, was built in 1850 by a family of aristocratic landowners who lived there during harvest time. However, it had been uninhabited since the Sixties and was in a terrible condition, with no roof and trees growing inside. The land, now lemon groves, had been cultivated, but was also in a state of relative abandonment.

Jon and Marco got the owner's details, but waited a year before making contact. 'The house was much bigger than we were looking for, and we weren't sure we had the resources to restore such a large place,' says Jon. 'Plus, we didn't know if it was for sale. It is a bit awkward ringing up a stranger to say, "We jumped over the fence into your property, had a look around and were wondering whether we could buy it." I suppose we also didn't want to ruin the dream. But we couldn't stop thinking about it, so one morning, in 2005, I said to Marco, "I am not doing anything until we make that call."

'Apparently, the previous evening, the owner had discussed the future of the house with her family and decided to sell. I think she saw it as fate,' Jon continues. Nevertheless, the purchase involved 12 months of tough negotiations. This was followed by two years of research, consultations with a local architect and acquiring the necessary permits. Building work finally began in 2008 and lasted four years.

Although Jon and Marco had to convert the stables and parts of the building used for making and storing wine into liveable spaces, their principal aim was to preserve and restore the structure using original construction techniques and materials. Among other things, this involved rebuilding the crumbling six-metre-high vaulted ceilings using timber and bricks as opposed to concrete, and making the plaster on site in the traditional Sicilian way, using a mixture of black crushed lava stone, red brick and white sand.

Because of its size, Tre Contrade has to be rented out to make it financially viable, but it is only available to private parties. 'It is not a hotel: it is a home,' says Jon. The couple did not use an interior designer. 'The prospect was daunting, but the decoration had to be personal. We knew it would take time to fill a house of this size, so when building work started, we rented some storage and gradually filled it with flea market finds and antiques from Sicily and Northern Italy, as well as Lyon and Antwerp.'