File:VillaFalconara Taormina Sicily CasaDucaDiBronte.png

English: Postcard image of Villa Falconara, Taormina, Sicily, built c.1908-11 by Sir Alexander Nelson Hood, 5th Duke of Bronté (1854-1937)) of Castello di Maniace, near Bronte, about 40 km west of Taormina and of 13 Pelham Crescent, South Kensington, London. Situated at 99 Via Luigi Pirandello, on the steep hillside 400 yards below (south of) the Teatro Greco, it comprises 20 rooms, including 8 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and 50,000 square metres (c. 12 acres) of gardens and greenery. In April 1924 the 5th Duke, a royal courtier, entertained King George V there. Commemorated by a white marble tablet on a garden wall inscribed: "Their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary with TRH Prince George and Princess Victoria honoured this house and garden with a visit on 4th April 1925". See photos: the "5th Duke with King George V on the Loggia at Villa La Falconara 1925" (p.168, fig.15) and "5th Duke with Queen Mary, after her landing at Palermo on 7/4/1925", accompanied by Lady Jane Verney (1877-1951), wife of the courtier Sir Harry Lloyd Verney. (p.167, figure 14) in Lucy Riall, Under the Volcano: Revolution in a Sicilian Town, Oxford, 2013[1]. Some confusion in dates between two sources, one inscribed in stone, the other written by 5th Duke in his photo album - unless Queen Mary travelled to Palermo by boat after her visit to Taormina. Source: Under the Volcano: Revolution in a Sicilian Town By Lucy Riall, p.169[2]; Sometimes referred to today by estate agents for marketing purposes as Villa Nelson, and claimed (erroneously) by them to have been built by the Admiral in 1780. Also see Il V Duca Alexander Nelson Hood ed il terremoto di Messina (http://www.bronteinsieme.it/2st/Rassegna/nelson_messina1.htm) Il Duca stesso vi aveva acquistato un terreno nel 1903, sul quale aveva dato inizio alla costru­zione de “La Falconara”, la villa da lui stesso progettata, i cui lavori nel 1908 erano ancora in corso. E’ possibile quindi che la sua presenza a Taormina nella notte fra il 27 ed il 28 dicembre 1908 fosse dovuta anche alla sua esigenza di seguire da vicino i lavori.