Meredith Tabbone initially decided to buy and renovate a cheap house in Italy to reconnect with her family history. More than four years and nearly half a million dollars later, her journey to the €1 house has given her a new perspective on work, life, friendships and happiness.
Tabbone, 44, is a financial adviser in Chicago. In 2019, he learned about a town in Italy, Sambuca di Sicilia, that was auctioning off abandoned properties starting at 1 euro, or about $1.05.
At the time, Tabbone was researching her own family history and realized that her great-grandfather was originally born in Sambuca before starting a new life in America.
The coincidence was “too good to be true” and he took it as a sign to bid.
Tabbone won her bid and spent 5,900 euros, or about $6,200, to take ownership of the home. He also bought the building next door and spent the next four years managing a local crew for the massive renovation.
In total, Tabbone spent about $475,000 on her Italian dream home.
Slower pace, but deeper friendships
Chicago quickly learned that the Sicilians work on a slower schedule than they were used to in the U.S. Additionally, the Covid-19 pandemic slowed renovation progress for years.
But she came to appreciate the slower pace of life and that helped her settle deeper into her Sicilian community.
If travel were open as usual, he says, “I’d usually come here and go sightseeing and meet other expats. Instead, I’d spend time with locals who were renovating my house and their friends.”
Socializing is now a big part of Tabbone’s life in Sicily, and she says it’s easier to make friends there than in the US. “And if that’s what you love, this is definitely the place to be.”
Less work, more personal fulfillment
Tabbone has a demanding schedule running her own business as a financial advisor, and spending time in a different culture has given her a new perspective.
“I’ve started to think differently about how I build my business and maybe not have work as the focus of my life, [but] for personal fulfillment in general,” he says.
Focusing a little less on work gives her more time and energy to pursue her personal goals, like visiting every country in the world now instead of putting it off.
She has taken with her a new perspective on work-life balance. “I’ve just tried to be as efficient as possible with my time when I’m in Chicago, and I’m definitely learning to say no to a lot more,” Tabbone says.
A less work-oriented lifestyle was a learning curve, Tabbone says, but “it was something I needed and it was really good for me.”
Her one regret
To this day, Tabbone says her only regret about the €1 project is that she didn’t embrace a slower life sooner.
“If I could do the buying or remodeling process over again, I would have learned to be more patient” and enjoy the experience from the beginning, she says.
At the end of the day, Tabbone says, “I never felt like this wasn’t the right place for me and that this wasn’t the right project to work in or the community to live in.”
Euro to US dollar conversions were made using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 euro to 1.05 USD on October 18, 2023. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.
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