On Salina Island, the Capofaro Lighthouse by MAB Arquitectura

By Welding Helmet Lab Editorial Team May 27, 2025 Architecture Archive

MAB Arquitectura has completed the restoration and transformation of the 19th-century Capofaro Lighthouse on Salina Island, Sicily, Italy, creating six suites that blend minimalist style with high-end experiences. The renovation preserved traditional materials to maintain the site’s historical memory and charm. Project details such as area and cost remain undisclosed.

The six suites are part of the expansion of the “Capofaro Locanda & Malvasia Winery,” designed to harmonize with the marine landscape and natural environment. The project protects the land and transforms public heritage into a historically and culturally valuable landscape. Located on a cape at the center of Salina Island, MAB Arquitectura’s restoration and interior design of the old Capofaro Lighthouse complex have converted the abandoned lighthouse keepers’ residences into six suites.

Suites and Island-Infused Decor: The Poetry of “Less is More”

Situated in the main building of this late-19th-century landmark, the suites exude understated luxury and serve as an extension of the “Capofaro Locanda & Malvasia Hotel”—a former vineyard transformed into a winery by the Tasca d’Almerita family. MAB Arquitectura’s interior layout and structural renovations emphasize minimalism and rusticity while preserving distinctive elements like domed vaulted ceilings and spiral staircases.

Ranging from 30 to 50 square meters, the suites feature private gardens and independent entrances. The largest suite, at the complex’s center, spans 80 square meters over two floors. All suites have front and rear windows and a panoramic terrace offering sweeping views of the sea, vineyards, vegetable gardens, and landscaped grounds.

For interior decor, MAB Arquitectura chose a rustic, functional style inspired by traditionally weathered architecture for custom furniture, materials, and local furnishings. Colors draw from the natural surroundings: warm earth tones like brown, sand, white, and beige, accented by marine blue. Micro-cement floors, white limewashed walls, stone-and-wood furniture, limestone washbasins, and handcrafted bathroom cement tiles by a historic San Flavia enterprise collectively define a luxury that prioritizes refinement over ostentation.

“In this natural and evocative environment, we embraced the poetic philosophy of ‘less is more’ to craft the interiors, focusing on thoughtful details without excess,” explains architect Floriana Marotta. “Each room is defined by elegance and minimalism, offering a refined yet understated luxury where time slows through the beauty of simplicity.”

Exterior Spaces: Restoring and Enhancing the Historic Lighthouse Complex

Still operational today, the lighthouse stands slightly apart from the main buildings of the Capofaro Locanda Malvasia estate, overlooking the stunning Aeolian Sea like a natural terrace and guiding sailors with its light and iconic presence. MAB Arquitectura’s exterior interventions respect the site’s heritage, acknowledging its architectural, historical, landscape, and cultural value as a genuine example of maritime industrial archaeology. The restoration followed a philological approach: first reinforcing the vaulted structures, renovating the tuff stone facades damaged by wind, rain, and salt erosion, and restoring cornices and supports, then repainting the facades with lime according to Aeolian traditions.

Architects Floriana Marotta and Massimo Basile also designed the lighthouse’s surrounding areas to highlight the site’s spirit. They used local resources such as dry stone walls, volcanic gravel pathways, and bamboo partitions on slender structures to provide subtle shade for the suites’ private gardens. A small botanical garden was created to showcase key Mediterranean scrub plants and native species found on Salina Island, offering guests an emotionally engaging experience.

Meandering paths through the vegetation lead to thematic clusters of typical Mediterranean shrubs like caper, myrtle, broom, lavender, and strawberry tree, as well as olive, laurel, and mastic hedges, alongside Barbary fig, rosemary, agave, and bougainvillea. A nearby small building has been converted into the Malvasia Micromuseum, a multimedia space with videos and infographics exploring themes deeply connected to Salina Island’s geography and history.

The lighthouse’s redevelopment represents a true revival of a place with a captivating past, transforming individual heritage into a shared asset while driving local economic growth. The Capofaro restoration is part of the “Valore Fari Rurali Italiani” (Italian Rural Lighthouses Value) project, a public real estate valorization initiative promoted by Difesa Servizi S.p.A. and the Agency for State Property Management. The program aims to lease lighthouse spaces to individuals for conservation, restoration, and local economic development.