History of Villa Malú
Our story began when my mother, Carmelina Rappazzo inherited the land in 2003 from my grandparents. Together with my father Giovanni Rappazzo, they decided to build a holiday home in their picturesque hometown of Castroreale.
My parent’s dream was to spend every hot summer in beautiful Sicily with me and my brother. Soon after my mother had an idea to name our beloved family vacation home, and ‘Villa Malú’ was born. The inspiration came from combining me and my brother’s names – ‘Ma’ from Marco & ‘lú’ from Luca.
As we got older and eventually left home, we felt compelled to share the beauty of Sicily with the rest of the world. Not long after, Villa Malú became a business venture. Since 2015, Luca and I have been hard at work renovating and enhancing the villa. Some of which included installing a family-sized pool and modernising the facilities for more sustainable qualities.
From then on, the villa was open for business, we have been welcoming guests every year to come and enjoy everything that Sicily has to offer. Taking this one step further, we have also created unique experiences for guests through collaborating with local businesses.
Village Malú was born
Then in April 2020, we took the decision to set ourselves an ambitious goal. This led to the creation of ‘Village Malú Ltd’, the dream is to have a series of luxury villas with breath-taking views and continue sharing the beauty of Castroreale with the world. Our ambition is to take our learnings and experience from transforming the original Villa Malú into a successful holiday-let and applying these skills to future developments.
Looking beyond today, the dream is to create a selection of unique properties offering exclusive services in Castroreale. Village Malú will be able to cater for intimate wedding parties, small group tours & other local activities, giving guests the opportunity to enjoy the authentic charm of the village.
Plans for the Future of Village Malú
To give you an idea of what’s next,each villa in the development will be built with sustainability in mind. Solar panels will be the main source of energy, all the water supplied will be sourced locally, and EV chargers available for use.
Each holiday home will consist of a minimum of 3-4 bedrooms, showcasing a master bedroom with its own ensuite, and private jacuzzi to enjoy. We intend to have each villa maintain its own design and style such as; modern, classic & traditional Sicilian interior designs. Each villa will be unique to each other but come together as a Village.
Keeping with the tradition of the original naming convention, the second villa is currently in development to be ready for guests in 2025. This villa will be called Villa Sanpé, inspired by my auntie Santina and uncle Giuseppe. My auntie is currently the House Keeper of Village Malú, and my uncle was the original Property Manager for Villa Malú before sadly passing away in 2021. Since then my cousin Giandomenico has stepped into this shoes to support the family business.
The third villa is a longer-term goal, but I can share a little bit of the vision with you now. My brother and I are aiming to have this completed for guests in 2027. In order to thank our parents for their sacrifices and support in our journey so far. We will call the third addition to Village Malú, Villa Meligió, to commemorate our wonderful parents Carmelina & Giovanni.
In parallel to the development and design work, we are collaborating with other local businesses in the village. Particularly projects where sustainability and family-values are key. Our partnerships span from tours at the local bio-park where guests can learn about Sicilian herbs and vegetables, and take home with them staple ingredients grown locally. To other experiences like wine tasting with a local wine producer, both at the vineyard or in the comfort of the villa!
Integrating the community is embedded in our vales at Village Malú. Ensuring to maintain the authenticity of the village for future generations to enjoy is the main ethos for our family.
Village Malú and our Commitment to You
My family and I will continue to work hard as a team to maintain Village Malú so that each one of our guests have the most comfortable stay with the best service possible. We remain hopeful that our villas will continue to delight families, friends, couples visiting from all around the world.
On behalf of my family and team, I want to thank you for reading our story and staying with us at Village Malú. We are committed to growing sustainably whilst creating a community both guests and locals can enjoy. Every booking we get, we are investing 100% back into making this dream a reality. If you would like to support us further and provide a donation, no matter how small, it will help a tremendous amount.
If you are interested in hearing more about the progress we are making, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
