Villa Malfitano Whitaker

The story

Joseph Whitaker, known as Pip, came from the English families who had made their fortune in Marsala wine in the 19th century: his grandfather was Benjamin Ingham. In 1886 he had this neo-Renaissance villa built, to a design by Ignazio Greco, in what was then countryside and is now via Dante.

A keen ornithologist and archaeologist, Whitaker bought the island of Mozia and began excavations there, and filled his garden with rare plants gathered on his travels: palms, giant fig trees, a dragon tree, a whole botanical collection in a park of several hectares.

Inside are the Summer Room with frescoed walls, tapestries, furniture and the family collections. The villa, run by the Whitaker Foundation, welcomed royalty and distinguished guests in Belle Époque Palermo.

Why it is worth it

This is the home of an English family that chose Palermo, and you can feel it: an English-style garden with trees from all over the world, rooms with furniture, ceramics and travel mementoes, an air of quiet elegance. Look for the Summer Room, painted like a pergola, and in the garden the great fig tree and the century-old dragon tree. Off the usual routes, it is a pause in Palermo’s calmer, residential side.