CNN Travel. Silvia Marchetti. 3 August 2022 Buyers from all around the world have been snapping up dilapidated Italian homes at rock bottom prices over the past few years as numerous depopulated towns and villages attempt to revive their dwindling communities by offering property bargains. While the prospect of substantial structural upgrades, along with the red tape often involved in purchasing a home...
Travel+Leisure. Stacey Leasca. 31 July 2022 It's very possible you've never heard of Sambuca, Italy. It's not a place made famous by Instagram, nor a place filled with any particular industry that would lure in the crowds. It's a spot that's barely a speck on the map, located some 42 miles southwest of Palermo on the island of Sicily, with fewer than 6,000 permanent residents. But it's a spot worth...
CNN Travel. Silvia Marchetti. 29 July 2022 When dozens of towns across Italy started selling crumbling buildings for the cost of an espresso, people from all over the world were prompted to grab a slice of the action -- and for many different reasons. It's not always about chasing the idyllic dream of living La Dolce Vita in a rural, sleepy village where time stands still. For some, it's part of a...
Scott Thompson first arrived in Sicily in 2007 in search of a warm and sunny holiday escape from rainy Manchester, UK. A home builder by profession, he purchased a small house in Cianciana for €5,000 and planned to come for three months to work on it. Unfortunately, Scott did not purchase his house through either a comune or a licensed realtor. The resulting problems caused him to spend the next 10...
iNews. James Imam. September 17, 2021. A house in dreamy Sicily could still be yours for the price of an espresso and a croissant. But be warned: the prices have doubled. In 2019, you could pick up a dilapidated abode in Sambuca di Sicilia for as little as €1. In the second batch of 20 houses to be auctioned from November, the bidding starts at €2. Even so, buyers get a lot for their money. The...
Meredith Tabbone in front of her 1 euro house in Sambuca di Sicilia. In 2019, a friend forwarded a CNN article about a Sicilian town selling houses for just 1 euro to Meredith, an American of Sicilian descent living in Chicago. Sambuca di Sicilia, the town mentioned in the article, just happened to be the birthplace of her great-grandfather. To combat population decline, the town was auctioning 16...
CNN. Silvia Marchetti. July 16, 2021 Of the countless dwindling Italian towns that have opted to sell dilapidated homes for just one euro, Sambuca di Sicilia has undoubtedly been the most successful. Approximately 16 dwellings have been snapped up for €1 here since the scheme was first announced by CNN Travel in 2019, and Sambuca has been in the spotlight ever since. The global attention led to...
CNN. Julia Buckley. May 25, 2021 (CNN) — In 2019, the Sicilian town of Cammarata made headlines around the world with its daring bid for new residents. Everyone's heard of Italy's €1 house schemes, of course. But how about a town giving away houses for free? Cammarata promised to waive the standard symbolic fee for those wanting to start a new life there. There was just one problem. So...
Bloomberg City Lab. Stefania D'Ignoti. May 21, 2021 After thousands of young workers fled urban lockdowns to the countryside, village leaders are trying to make sure they stay. It’s easier said than done. A Medieval hamlet perched in the Madonie mountains of Sicily, Castelbuono looks straight out of a fairy tale, with narrow, winding streets and a stone-walled castle from the 14th...
CNN. Julia Buckley. May 13, 2021 When Alexandra Stubbs heard a friend had bought one of Italy's infamous €1 houses, she felt a little rattled." I did the usual kind of thing -- what the hell's that all about, how is that going to work? I'm really skeptical," she says.But underneath the skepticism, there was something else, too." I absolutely loved Sicily from visits in my 20s and...