Unconventional House Hunt: American Buyer Snaps Up Italian Property After One Day in Basilicata’s Off-the-Beaten-Track Village Latronico

Paul Millet’s experience of buying a house in Italy was far from typical. Instead of searching for weeks and deliberating over location like most people do during a property purchase, Millet found his beautiful old house with great views in southern Italy’s Basilicata region just one day after arriving there for the first time. Millet explains that this sudden opportunity piqued his interest when he read an article on CNN about houses being sold for one euro back in 2015, but quickly realized these came with a catch – huge renovation costs to make them livable. Instead of opting for such properties, Millet turned towards cheaper ones that were already occupied or close to ready to move into at a still-affordable price point. Latronico, the stunning cliff top village in Basilicata where he eventually bought his house, had sold only two homes priced at one euro and instead focused its efforts on cheaply offloading renovated houses in order to revive its dwindling population through a program run by officials there. Millet was drawn towards Latronico because the locals running this housing sales programme seemed extremely responsive compared to other cheaper house towns he had contacted prior his visit last year due primarily, in my case and maybe I shouldn’t tell you but it is very much an emotional connection,” says Millet of falling for a place that isn’t known or visited by many people. Although the houses here are small with two basements being repurposed – one featuring a cave which once housed livestock, while another has an ancient bread oven built into its wall still working – renovation work is almost complete and Millet expects to spend up to $35,000 on sprucing it up. The house’s rough stone walls were whitewashed for brightening purposes as the new concrete floor was stained and sealed. Although he can’t wait to have friends enjoying sunset cocktails from a tiled terrace during future stays here whilst dining in his kitchen below, Millet has no plans of making Latronico his permanent home yet; instead, it will serve him well as an escape where he could slow down and unplug.