Italian authorities have set out to sell dilapidated homes for one euro so that someone will take care of them. Just such a house is being bought by Marie Olsson Nylander and Bill Nylander in "The Italian House Dream". They have renovated about ten houses before, but this is their largest project to date, the duo explains.
Our feeling was that it's a ruin. It's maybe sometimes better to buy a house for 20,000 euros that doesn't have any problems, says Marie Olsson Nylander – but reveals that not everything was quite as bad as they initially thought.
Successful campaign
It took a while to find the house, which is located just over an hour south of Palermo. Despite the advertising, there are not always euro-houses available, the duo explains.
At the same time, they see that the Italian campaign seems to be working.
The project has turned out well in this village, now they have opened a preschool and completely renovated the elementary school because there are children. They have sold 250 houses since 2019 and each house has cost at least one million to renovate, with local labor, says Bill Nylander.
Among their own finds are tile plates from a small Italian terracotta factory that doesn't even exist on the internet.
It was an old man in his 70-80s who makes these plates one by one, when you see it you just want to cry. You see the traces of his hands and craftsmanship in the plates, says Marie Olsson Nylander.
Simple means
The viewers who have followed the renovation of the magnificent Palazzo Cirillo will now see a new style. The couple did not want to do the same thing again, explains Marie Olsson Nylander.
This is more rustic, simpler. I think many can relate to this. We've done it with simple means, she says.
