Buy an Italian villa for 2 dollars

An earthquake devastated the Sicilian village of Salemi in 1968, killing 200 people and reducing thousands of buildings to rubble. Down the hill, a modern city sprung up in the village’s place, but the historical center has been a ghost town ever since. Except for a few dozen habitable villas, the ruins are frozen in time: tattered curtains hang on broken windows and rusty table legs protrude from heaps of rubble.

Now Salemi is taking an unusual step to reincarnate the old town: it is giving the dilapidated villas away. The city’s new mayor is offering 3,000 of the villas for the bargain-basement price of ?1 a piece. The catch? The new owners have two years to renovate, staying true to each building’s original characteristics and, when possible, using the area’s local artisans, masons and builders.

Villa For Sale: Two Bucks

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