Daphne Phelps

This was the master bedroom, first inhabited by the famous English painter Robert Kitson and then by his granddaughter, the writer Daphne Phelps. The room has two magnificent Baroque-style balconies overlooking the garden, Mount Etna and the Gulf of Naxos, with a spectacular view of the sea. It has natural light that makes it suitable for painting, writing and reading. It is furnished with rare and elegant 18th-century Sicilian furniture. Watercolours by Robert Hawthorn Kitson, depicting the garden of the villa, make the atmosphere of the room exclusive and welcoming. The paintings and antique furniture in this room have been part of the Italian National Cultural Heritage since 26 March 2021 and are under the protection of the Fine Arts. Please treat them with good care.

The suite consists of an entrance hall, a small living room, a bedroom and a bathroom with bathtub, the latter designed and built in 1941 for the commander of the German occupation troops in Italy, Generalfeldmarschall Albert Konrad Kesselring.

It has been the bedroom of many artists, famous art critics, presidents of the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Watercolour Society of Art, Royal Society of Art painters, magistrates and writers.

Among the many were Sir Alfred East, Sir Frank Brangwyn, Alfred Barr Jr, Salvador Dali, Cecil Hunt, Pablo Picasso.

The bathroom has been perfectly restored and reproduced with tiles of the same type and colour. The wooden fittings in the bathroom, original of the period, were designed by Sir Frank Brangwyn in 1909.

The paintings and antique furniture in this room were declared part of the Italian National Cultural Heritage on 22 March 2021 and are therefore under the protection of the Fine Arts of Messina.

Please take good care of them!