Inside Sicily: the secret life of its homes

In Sicily, time settles into stones, courtyards, and frescoed ceilings. Every home tells a story—often more than one: the story of the family who lived there, of the landscape that surrounds it, of the civilizations that passed through. Between the deep blue of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the dark soils of Mount Etna, among olive-covered hills and baroque townscapes, the island preserves houses where time has layered itself gently over centuries. Some homes open onto citrus gardens, others stretch across terraces that face the sea. Some residents have chosen to live in carefully restored noble palazzi; others in pared-back rural homes; still others have transformed old villas into creative retreats.


Dal volume "Inside Sicily" di Christopher Garis - In the picture Villa Malfitano,  © Guido Taroni

It’s this rich and varied world of rarely seen interiors that comes to life in Inside Sicily (Vendome Press), a photographic volume by Christopher Garis with images by Guido Taroni. The book gathers some of the island’s most fascinating homes—spaces inhabited by artists, architects, collectors, and intellectuals, where every detail reflects a way of life deeply connected to place and far removed from passing trends. There’s Casa Cuseni in Taormina, the historic residence of British painter Robert Kitson, which once hosted the likes of D.H. Lawrence and Giacomo Balla. The house’s décor, furniture, and colors reveal a refined, cosmopolitan aesthetic. Then there’s the retreat of Ettore Sottsass and Barbara Radice in the Aeolian Islands—a place suspended between land and sea, capturing all the visionary energy of the Memphis Group founder.


Dal volume "Inside Sicily" di Christopher Garis - In the picture on the left Castello di Falconara © Guido Taroni, on the right Panarea © Guido Taroni

The journey continues through the sunlit landscapes of the Val di Noto, where a villa designed by architects Gordon Guillaumier and Rodolfo Dordoni blends contemporary elegance with the surrounding countryside. Each space is designed to speak with light and memory, using local materials, natural colors, and clean lines that express an intimate and sophisticated Sicily—deeply rooted in its past yet open to experimentation. Many of the homes featured are the result of respectful restorations, where the patina of time isn’t erased, but honored. Coffered ceilings, ancient maiolica tiles, and lava stone floors coexist with contemporary furniture, artworks, and design pieces. The atmosphere is warm and tactile: oriental rugs, handmade ceramics, raw textiles, and bare walls animated by plays of natural light. Every room seems to whisper something. Inside Sicily is a collective story about the island’s identity—its contradictions, its magnetism. Through architecture and interior design, the book reveals a Sicily shaped by encounters and cultural layering, where Greek, Arab, Norman, and Baroque influences are still visible in the smallest everyday details.