AN American woman turned a £1 derelict house into a £384k dream home with a spa, outdoor kitchen and wine cellar.
Meredith Tabbone, 45, decided to bid on a house for $1 (85 cents) on a “whim” after her friend sent her an article about the scheme.
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Bids started at just a euro – but she made a random offer of £4,400 – for a disused 17th century building Sambuca di Sicilia in Sicily, Italy.
The building had no electricity or running water and the roof was thick with asbestos.
Meredith bought the house next one door for £27,000 and knocked through to create a four-bedroom, five-bathroom home.
She spent £384,000 and five years creating her dream home with an outdoor kitchen. spa and an outdoor banquet hall.
Meredith, a financial advisor from Chicagosaid: “The house was in very poor condition, but in many ways it was everything I expected and more.
'It had so much charm.
“It had such interesting architectural details, you could really see it history come through the walls.
But it was a fixer-upper to say the least. It was worth it – it turned out well.
“It is modern, but in keeping with, [so its a perfect] vacation home.”
Meredith began researching how to obtain Italian citizenship in 2016 and discovered that her father Michael's great-grandfather, Fillippo Tabbone, was from Sambuca di Sicilia, a small village in Sicily.
After reading an article about people who bid on houses for one euro in Italy, Meredith made an offer in January 2019 and discovered 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 purchased the house next door through a private sale to turn it into a 3,000-square-foot property.
Meredith said: 'When we first saw the house – it was 700 square feet, had no electricity, running water or windows – and was full of asbestos.
'Initially the plan was to turn it into a small getaway house.
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“Although we originally just wanted it as a little getaway, we turned it into a vacation dream house.”
Meredith has bought two guest houses in the same village for a total of £28,000, which need minor repairs.
She also bought a disused building for £58,000, which she is converting into an art gallery and apartment for artists to stay.
Meredith is currently gathering plans and staff to begin renovating the gallery later this year.
After five years of hard work, Meredith's holiday home was finally completed in April 2024 – and she now spends four months a year in Italy.
We have turned it into a dream house
Meredith Tabbone
She said: “It was very slow and tedious, but the sunsets are spectacular.”
Meredith recommends people buy a house for one dollar, but says it's not for the faint of heart.
She said, “I went all in. If you can muster the strength, it will be worth it.”
She is not the only one who has had success with the one-euro house plan.
George Laing, from London, left Britain and bought a house for one euro in the Sicilian village of Mussomeli.
The 31-year-old spent less than £20,000 on it, opting to do most of the work himself.
How does the one euro housing system work?
DEPENDING on the region, a number of towns and villages across Italy have offered cheap properties from €1 to encourage people to move to the area.
There are approximately 25 regions participating, each with a number of real estate properties.
Many of the areas have declining or aging populations and are hoping to rebuild the community.
The properties range from small houses to larger villas, but are all in a very dilapidated state.
The terms of purchasing each property also vary, but most of them require major renovation work that is part of the plan
According to Maurizio Berti, who manages the website casea1euro.it: “The houses are owned by private individuals who often want to get rid of them so as not to have to pay taxes and heavy taxes.
“We are talking about dilapidated or unsafe properties that need major renovations.”
Conditions include notary fees, paying an additional three-year purchase guarantee of €5,000 (which is refundable when it expires) and starting the project within two months of permits being granted.
The houses are auctioned for people to bid on, so they don't all technically cost €1.
While some homes sell for $1, homes sell for around $5,000 on average, although some can cost up to $20,000.
Some schemes even offer to pay you money to buy a house if you can stimulate the economy with a new business venture.
However, he has since said he is “living the dream”, culminating in a morning cup of coffee on his balcony with a beautiful view.
It's not just Italy either – here is a French city also sells houses for €1.
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