I bought an abandoned home for 85p -it didn’t have running water or electricity, but now it’s my dream house worth £384k
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A WOMAN has revealed that she bought an entire abandoned home for just 85p, and has transformed it into her dream home, which is now worth £384,000. Meredith Tabbone, 44, purchased the home in Sambuca di Sicilia, Italy back in 2019 and has spent the last few years completely transforming it.
![[Meredith bought an abandoned home in Italy, which was auctioning for 85p]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/didn-t-running-water-electricity-960444864.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
She first heard that abandoned homes in Italy were being sold off for a euro after a friend showed her an article about the scheme. Meredith is from Chicago, but her family is originally from Sicily, and the village that her Italian home is situated in is the same village that her great-grandfather came to the US from in 1902.
![[When she first bought the property, it had no electricity or running water]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/f83073ef-6ed7-4b92-ae59-02a061daec07.jpg?strip=all&w=523)
She had been planning on buying a property in Europe, so decided to put in a bid for a property, despite never having seen it and never having been to Sicily. A few months later, she got an email saying that she had won the bid, and spent £4,900 to take ownership of the property.
![[She spent £384,000 turning it into her dream home]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/didn-t-running-water-electricity-960444868.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
In June 2019, Meredith visited the 17th century home for the first time, and said that the condition was "dire at best.". "There was no electricity, there was no running water, there was an asbestos roof," she told CNBC. She added that there was also "two foot of pigeon poo" on the floor.
In August 2020, Meredith decided to purchase the house next door, for £18,290. "The reason I did that is because the one euro home was pretty small, which initially I didn't mind as I was just thinking of it as an apartment to visit infrequently," she said.
