Woman buys house in Italy for Just Rs 90, renovates it for this whopping amount

An Instagram post tells an interesting story of a woman who invested more on renovating her home than what she paid for it. Meredith Tabbone bought a house in Italy without seeing it.  

A financial advisor from Chicago, Tabbone bought a very old house in Italy's Sambuca di Sicilia. The story goes back to 2019 when Italy put its abandoned houses on auction for a surprisingly low price, mere USD 1.05 (approx Rs 90).  Tabbone was simultaneously researching her family history when she found out about her ancestral connection with the Sicilian town. Her great grandfather had moved to the US from the old Sicilian town. She found the coincidence as "Too good to be true," and believing it as a sign, she placed the bid. 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Meredith Tabbone (@meredith.tabbone)

She received a mail informing her of winning the bid and from that moment she started building her dream home. Meredith bought a 17th-century house without electricity or running water. The house was even filled with "two feet of pigeon poop on the floor". Although she bought the house for USD 1.05, she had spent USD 446,000 (about Rs 3.8 crore) in building it up.  

In a video that she posted on her Instagram account, she showcases the original condition in which she bought her house and how it turned after renovation. She mentioned that she also bought a vacant home next to hers through a private sale for 22,000 euros (a little over USD 23,000).  

It took Meredith over three years to complete her renovation project, which was her first. Tabbone's initial budget was USD 40,000 (approx Rs 34 lakh), but in overall renovating the old house she had to spent around Rs 4 crore. "I hired an entire team to do it and the only thing that I spent a lot of time on was the design," she said in an interview. She also said that she would never sell her house.  

Tabbone bought the house to build it as a vacation home where she could spend time with her family and friends. She calls the home Casa dell'Architetto in honour of her father who was an architect.  

Her house features modern designs with two main bedrooms, two guest rooms, a big kitchen, a massive dinning hall and walls adorned with photographs, a library, living room, she even has a dry sauna in one of her guest bedrooms.  

Sambuca is a hilltop town overlooking the Mediterranean island and surrounding beaches. The auction was made for the purpose of helping the local community revive as many from the place shifted to bigger cities.