Young Czech buys 400-year-old ruin in Abruzzo for 8,200 euros and renovates it into a holiday home
A Czech in his twenties bought a 400-year-old ruin in Abruzzo for 8,200 euros, paid a 2,500-euro deposit before visiting and later renovated it into a weekend home.
A 20-year-old Czech buyer bought a 400-year-old stone house in Abruzzo for 8,200 euros without having visited the property in person before signing the purchase contract, then paid a €2,500 deposit and only afterwards travelled to inspect the ruin and complete the notarised sale.
From ruin to weekend home
Over the following years he rebuilt the derelict building step by step into a usable holiday house, documenting the work on his Instagram account "Casa dei Fichi." He now spends many weekends there with family and friends, while his family has permanently moved to the Adriatic coast of the same region, where they also own an apartment.
The case illustrates why low-priced properties in Italy attract buyers from abroad: municipal initiatives such as the so-called one-euro houses aim to revive depopulated historic centres and have drawn particular attention. However, the nominal sale price often represents just the start of the expense.
Buyers are typically obliged to fully renovate the building within a set timeframe and must cover all renovation costs, taxes and other charges themselves. The young Czech says the popularity of these offers can be misleading: he considers the one-euro story a successful marketing move because it frequently downplays how much money and time must be invested after purchase.
Although his house was inexpensive to acquire, making it habitable required substantial time, labour and additional investment before it could be used as a weekend retreat.
Photo: press material from the event
