U Mulinu Casanelli

A Ruin’s Rebirth

Enamored with a hilltop ruin that was once a working olive mill, and witness to its continued collapse over time, the new owners of this wholly original hilltop holiday home came to the crumbling property’s rescue. Retaining the original structure, an antique mill, they reinforced its tall, stony walls with the addition of sleek new construction built right inside the old walls. Today, three bright, contemporary bedrooms reveal raw concrete and exposed wood elements held within the exterior embrace of old stone. The triple-level, generously terraced home offers views of the scrub-covered inland mountains and panoramas across dramatic, olive- and almond-dotted hills to the Mediterranean.

A pool below faces the Gulf of Valinco in the distance, and a newly-built, upper-level terrace looks out to the wild mountain backdrop. This terrace artfully reveals the ruin’s rustic edges where old and new collide at door level and creep upward toward the tiled roofline. The building’s sea-facing façade also shows the old and new structures coexisting harmoniously, with the home’s third level marked by a round window, rising up beyond the jagged old stone. A vegetable garden, almond trees, Corsica’s signature, aromatic maquis scrub and low-lying vineyards complete the rural Mediterranean picture, along with neighboring sheep and cows.

Around

A bold, if peaceful, countryside estate, this house and pool occupy a hillside near the Mediterranean coastline inland from Corsica’s southwestern Bay of Propriano. The closet Propriano beaches are minutes by car from the home, with soft white sands pocked with rocky outcroppings and waters ideal for nautical activities and swimming. Located in the greater Valinco Gulf area, the neighboring port town of Propriano dates mostly from the early 19th century, with its structures dating back to Greek and Roman times mostly destroyed by pirate raids of the 18th century. The town’s small harbor is home to modest fishing vessels, and there’s a pleasure port for gleaming yachts and a port for ferries to Sardinia and France as well as commercial carriers. Built around a main street and square, the town’s traditional stone buildings are both residential and home to shops, cafes, and bars. Fishing guides are available in town, and the Plage de Lido, about a kilometer outside the community, is a popular spot for water sports.

Nearby, the coastal village of Campomoro is a beachgoers’ favorite and the inland town of Sartene is classic Corsica, a warren of steep, old, stony streets and magnificent sea views. The Filitosa archeological park area is home to neolithic carvings and stones. Taking the single-lane country roads will land you in quiet villages clinging to hillsides, rustic vineyards and farms, and wild, untamed natural wonders such as crashing mountain cascades and chilly swimming holes, moss-covered footbridges and forest paths, and high altitude lakes and streams.

Location

Nearest airports: Figari (50 minutes); Ajaccio (1 hour). Ferries from mainland France (Marseille) to Propriano operate daily.

Best time to visit

April to October

Photography: Sylvain Alessandri