A woman who bought one of Italy’s ‘one euro houses’ on the truth behind the scheme

A woman has transformed a derelict Italian house for “one euro” into a £384,000 dream home – complete with spa, outdoor kitchen and wine cellar.

Meredith Tabbone, 45, decided to offer the house for one euro on a “whim” after her friend sent her an article about the scheme.

Several small Italian towns have made headlines in the past few years for selling empty houses for €1 a year.

Municipalities offer houses for a symbolic price of €1. They say it’s worth more to the cities to have these houses upgraded and occupied over the next few years than to sell them at full price.

Meredith made a random bid of £4,400 – for a disused 17th century building in Sambuca di Sicilia, Sicily, Italy.

The building had no electricity or running water and the roof was thick with asbestos.

Meredith bought the house next door for £27,000, creating a four-bedroom, five-bathroom property.

She spent £384,000 and five years creating her dream holiday home, complete with outdoor kitchen, spa and outdoor party room.

Meredith, a financial advisor from Chicago, Illinois, USA, said: “The house was in very poor condition – but in many ways it was everything I expected it to be and more.

“It had so much charm.

“It had such interesting architectural detail – you could really see the history coming through the walls. But at least it was a fixer upper.

“It was worth it, it turned out well.

“It’s modern but preserved. It’s a vacation home.”

Meredith began researching how to obtain Italian citizenship in 2016 and discovered that her father Michael’s great-grandfather, Fillippo Tabbone, came from Sambuca di Sicilia – a small village in Sicily.

After reading an article about people bidding on houses in Italy with one euro, Meredith submitted a bid in January 2019 and found out she was successful in May of that year.

She started work on it a month later – spending £661 to remove the roof in an environmentally safe way.

In August 2020, she bought the house next door through a private sale to break ground and create a 3,000 sq ft property.

Meredith said: “When we first saw the house – it was 750 square feet, had no electricity, running water or windows – and it was full of asbestos.

“At first the plan was just to turn it into a small shelter.

“Even though we originally just wanted it as a little getaway – we turned it into a dream house.”

Meredith has bought two guest houses in the same village for a total of £28,000 which will need minor repairs.

She also bought a disused building for £58k which she is converting into an art gallery and flat for artists to live in.

Meredith is currently gathering plans and manpower to begin gallery renovations later this year.

Areas in Italy where the house operates with 1 EUR

Where you can get a good deal

After five years of hard work, Meredith’s holiday home was finally completed in April 2024 – and she now spends four months of the year in Italy.

She said: “It was very slow and tiring.

“The sunsets are spectacular.

Meredith encourages people to consider buying a house for one euro, but said it’s not for the faint of heart.

She said: “I went all in.

“If you can muster the strength, it’s worth it.