La dolce vita or a renovation nightmare? Here's what it's really like when you buy a 1-euro house in a Sicilian village. Toti Nigrelli flipp

The reality of Italy's 1-euro-house dream

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2024-03-28 05:30:27

La dolce vita or a renovation nightmare? Here's what it's really like when you buy a 1-euro house in a Sicilian village.

Toti Nigrelli flipped through dozens of keys on a long loop as he approached a centuries-old townhouse in the heart of Mussomeli, a hilltop town in Sicily's hinterland. The three-storey home sat nestled in a snug row of terraces along a sun-drenched cobblestone lane.

"This is one of our 1-euro houses," said the young deputy mayor, as he fumbled to undo a padlock and chains looped around the door handles.

Mussomeli's abandoned houses have come to dominate Toti Nigrelli's life in recent years. In 2017, the town ignited the dreams of wishful thinkers and renovation enthusiasts across the world with a headline-grabbing scheme: selling a slice of Sicily for just 1 euro ($1.60).

Similar programs are being run throughout Italy, in small towns hopeful of attracting new residents to bolster dwindling populations.