Flowers Room - Teatro Massimo, Unesco site, Beach

One spring afternoon during the Belle Époque, the paths of an Italian lady and an English gentleman crossed at the Reber bookshop in Palermo. Maria, a nurse, cared for patients with pellagra at the Treviso hospital. George, a wine merchant from Manchester, had spent the early years of his career traveling through England, Spain, and Italy. This historic home tells their love story. The space PRIVATE AREAS The FLOWER ROOM is inspired by Giuseppe Riggio's monumental work Acis Hortus Regius (1758-1830), a pharmacist who – although not contemporary – Maria particularly appreciated the extraordinary care she impressed in the 753 tables illustrating the endemic plants of her native city at the foot of Etna, Acireale. The BATHROOM takes advantage of the typical Mediterranean color contrast given by the green water tiles on the walls with the white of the walls and the wooden beam ceiling. The original spaces and furnishings of the apartment have been kept unchanged by the time of Maria and George's transfer to Palermo (1889-1891) and the friendships that here with the most famous naturalists. The FLOWER ROOM SHARES the bathroom on the same floor with the butterfly room. OTHER AVAILABLE ACCOMMODATIONS If the FLOWER ROOM is already booked on your travel dates, don't despair! Try checking our other available accommodations: FISH ROOM www.airbnb.it/h/private-room-palermo-center-thenaturalists-fish-with-shared-bathroom BIRD ROOM www.airbnb.it/h/private-room-palermo-center-thenaturalists-birds-with-shared-bathroom BUTTERFLY ROOM www.airbnb.it/h/private-room-palermo-center-thenaturalists-butterflies-with-shared-bathroom Guest access SHARED AREAS In addition to the PRIVATE AREAS (own bedroom, 1 of the 2 bathrooms), all guests have the right to access and use the following SHARED AREAS: - 1 kitchen - 1 dining room - 1 living room - 2 balconies - 1 laundry room - 1 luggage storage The KITCHEN has a two-burner hot plate, a refrigerator-freezer, basics (coffee, tea, salt, sugar, olive oil, balsamic vinegar) and dishes (cutlery, glasses, pots, pans, tablecloths, napkins) useful for preparing even the most elaborate of meals. For those who wish to eat meals on the beach or at the park, some takeaway tupperware is also available. In the DINING ROOM, some of the dishes that George, an exporter of Sicilian wines and fruit, used to bring as souvenirs to Maria when he returned from his business trips, are displayed on the walls. Guests can enjoy their meals on original Fardella armchairs, the first national manufacturer of bentwood furniture, enjoying a reproduction of The Embrace by Francesco Lojacono, the greatest Italian landscape painter of the nineteenth century, known as "the thief of the sun" for the brightness of his canvases. In the LIVING ROOM, the sinuous lines of the art deco seats, the plant-themed floor tiles, the strawberry thieves on the William Morris upholstery and the collection of historical cartography frame the gramophone that, now as then, sings the notes of Caruso's 'Addio Napoli', a gift from his friend Mario Vittorietti, a renowned Palermo publisher. Since September 2024, this residence has been the moral guardian of his brother Pippo's large collection of historical records. The BALCONIES enjoy a triple exposure to the east in the direction of the Teatro Massimo and the medieval walls of San Vito that surround the historic center and the Arab-Norman serial site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to the north up to the profile of Monte Pellegrino and the city of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and to the west to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele Orlando and the Palace of Justice, the greatest example of rationalist architecture in Sicily. SERVICES include: * LUGGAGE STORAGE, available 24/7 * 24/7 TELEPHONE SUPPORT * WASHING AND IRONING *COURTESY CAR * USE OF umbrellas, beach umbrellas, beach towels * TOURIST ITINERARIES and * 10% DISCOUNT on purchases at our circuit of bars, ice cream parlors, local, ethnic, fish, meat, pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan and celiac restaurants, wine bars, bookstores, craft shops and - lastly - also a haberdashery. For information on rates, please contact management. During your stay The SUPPORT service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Management can be contacted via: * Airbnb chat * instant messaging or * the manager's phone number. Other things to note THE NATURALISTS IS A NON-PROFIT PROJECT TO BRING THE ANCIENT OWNERS HOME. BUT WHO WERE MARIA AND GEORGE? She was the first to leave Veneto for Palermo, which had become a refuge for the crowned heads of Europe thanks to the enlightened initiative of the Whitaker and Florio families. Thanks to her innate empathy, Maria soon caught the attention of Antonio Reber, who hired her to head the children's literature section of his bookstore. George, then on sabbatical and fleeing the mists of the North, decided to cross the threshold of the bookstore at the urging of his friend Robert Trewhella. George said he was looking not for children's titles, but for the legendary "Sculpted Metopes" by Harris and Angell. Although he was aware that the bookstore did not have the rare illustrated book, he had not found a better way to approach the charming bookseller than with his invitation: "Would you like to have tea with me after closing?" She replied bluntly: "After three weeks of standing outside our windows, I would have expected at least a beer!" The couple embarked on their first trip to Europe's most natural destination: Iceland. Here they were united in marriage according to the Asatrù rite, founded on a great love for the earth and reverence for the forces of nature. They had become the Naturalists. Upon returning from Iceland, George came up with the idea of scaling back his archaeology as a hobby when the Tempra family hired him to manage the export of their citrus fruits on the route that connected Liverpool to Boston, New York and Chesapeake. It was 1892. That same year, while René Bazin wrote "it really looks like a capital, an ancient sovereign city, this white Palermo, surrounded by orange trees. In front of it is one of the most beautiful bays in the world (...) Behind it, a semicircle of dark green, an immense citrus orchard", George represented the Tempra family at the National Exhibition, celebrated in Palermo after the political capital (Rome), the economic capital (Milan) of Italy and before many other important cities, such as Florence, Naples, Turin, Genoa and Bologna. At the end of December, Maria gave birth to little Mickey, the joy of both parents. For many years, the three of them alternated trips to Europe and the Maghreb with Sunday excursions in the forests of Ficuzza and Madonie together with the members of the newly formed Sicilian Alpine Club, making friends with the greatest naturalists of the time. Registration Details IT082053C26U992WZX