The masseria, as can be seen in the shots made by a drone, is immersed in a pleasant landscape still dominated for the most part by agricultural. It is a landscape in its own right, with very evocative views and horizons. The various buildings and open spaces form a system that originated for purposes of production, where every element has a precise purpose, such as the stables and stalls. The grouping of volumes, made uniform by the use of local stone, is organized around the baglio, the large walled and paved courtyard, separated from the countryside, as a sort of large rural piazza, an architectural theater towards which all the buildings face and where all the activities interact. This intrinsic quality of the court, which is domestic and monumental at the same time, is the key to the project, which transforms the multiple spatial and visual relationships around the central clearing, but without weakening them in any way.

Built towards the end of the 1800s at the center of a property of about 80 hectares, the complex is surrounded by a sturdy stone wall – hence its name, La Chiusa. “The buildings,” says Sebastiano Italia, “were entirely made with a masonry structure in Modica stone, which was still in perfect condition when we arrived. We eliminated all the plaster in the interiors, bringing to stone back into view, and wherever possible we have cleaned the masonry, to restore the original image of the mortar seams.”

The fact of coming across the same walls, inside and outside, conveys an idea of the permeability of the spaces, the lack of indoor-outdoor boundaries. The architectural parts are very well defined, but also have clear continuity with the plane of the baglio. The most obvious case is that of the swimming pool, raised on a podium and created inside a structure with the roof removed, conserving its perimeter walls. The porticos act as cyclopean screens that soften the impact of the sunlight. The high portico is supported by pillars that were too slender to bear the load of the stone wall, and have thus been reinforced with a sheet of steel that clads the intrados. This insertion introduces an element of the contemporary in an elegant, unexpected way, aimed at underscoring the sculptural abstract effect of the wall. In the stables, now utilized for parties and banquets, the powerful sequence of arches has been conserved, creating a very cozy portico, a cool, shady area from which the courtyard is perceived as a continuous, open and sunny space, flanked by a few windows and well-distanced tall portals.

“For the parts we have reconstructed,” Sebastiano says, "such as the roofs, the floor structures and casements, we have relied on traditional techniques. For the outermost layer of the roofs, completely refurbished, we used only old salvaged tiles found at La Chiusa and other farmhouses in the zone.” The slabs have been completely renovated and are entirely in wood, using a traditional system of joists. The floors, with the exception of just one room where the original stone has been conserved, are in cementitious resin, or in wood – in the bedrooms – utilizing boards rescued from the old roofs, to recycle the materials as in all the other parts of the project. “For example," Sebastiano continues, "we demolished a wall that divided the property into two parts, from which we gathered a large number of blocks of tuff that were then reutilized for the paving of the outdoor spaces.