I bought one of Sicily's famous $1 homes and spent $446K renovating it—take a look inside
Meredith Tabbone lives in Chicago, but for the last five years, she's spent countless hours and nearly half a million dollars to build her dream home in Italy.
It all started in early 2019 when Tabbone learned about a town in Italy, Sambuca di Sicilia, that was auctioning off abandoned properties starting at 1 euro, or roughly $1.05.
At the same time, Tabbone, who works as a financial advisor, was deep into researching her family history. She had just traced her great-grandfather back to the same Sicilian town before he started a new life in America.
A few months later, Tabbone became the owner of the 1-euro home. She also bought the building next door and got to work managing a local crew on the massive renovation.
Today, Tabbone, 45, uses her Sicily property as a vacation getaway, and she says it feels like a primary residence. The home includes two primary bedrooms, two guest bedrooms, a kitchen with modern finishes, a large dining room with a gallery wall of photography, a library, a living room, a dry-heat sauna and two terraces, including one with a pizza oven and outdoor dining area.
While bids for the Sicilian properties started at 1 euro, Tabbone placed a bid of 5,555 euros for her building. With taxes and fees, she spent 5,900 euros (roughly $6,200) to take ownership of the property.
