A woman bought three houses in Italy for just one euro each. Rubia Daniels, 49, flew out to Mussomeli, Sicily, within days of hearing about the 'one euro home' scheme - launched to help fill up abandoned properties - in 2019.
She bought three run-down historic fixer-uppers - paying just €3 for them in total. They are within 10 minutes' drive of each other, and needed €20,000 worth of work each to restore them to their former glory.
Work is nearly complete on the first home. She plans to turn the largest property into a wellness centre, one into an art gallery, and live in the smallest with partner, Kenneth Pitts, 65, during their retirement.
Rubia hopes each house will be worth €30k when renovated - but she she has no plans to sell what she considers is a "very small investment" in her future.
Rubia, a project manager, said: "You get the property free basically and then it's expected you to spend €20k to remodel the exterior.
"We have one mostly completed already when we go, and hopefully the second will be done by October. The third house, I haven’t started yet, but that will be my biggest project. The roof is fully collapsed - but it will be so beautiful.
"I never felt overwhelmed or fearful about this project - it's a big task but a great opportunity."
Italy's one Euro home scheme was launched in Sicily in 2019 as a way of helping to repopulate quiet areas where buildings have become disused and dilapidated. The buildings are all fixer-uppers and require investment and hard work to bring them up to scratch.
When Rubia first got wind of the scheme the year it was launched, she was fascinated - and flew to Sicily to view properties just three days later. By June 2019 she owned three neglected homes in Mussomeli, Sicily - a small town which reminded her of her own childhood growing up in Brazil.
She said: "I packed all my tools, bought a generator and power washer ready to go - by then my partner was thinking ‘this woman is nuts’. We went, and I flew my brother-in-law over from Brazil to help us with the renovation."
They started on the smallest house first - which was in the best condition of the three and was in a liveable condition in no time. For all the properties they plan to keep as much of the original features as possible, inside and out.
The pandemic ground things to a halt for two years - until Rubia finally managed to return to Sicily again in June 2022. Since then, Rubia and her husband have flown over every few months to continue with renovations on the second property, which she hopes to turn into an art gallery.
Once done, she'll move onto the third property - which she said will be her biggest project. Rubia, a mum-of-four, said: "It’s a four-floor corner building - it's so beautiful.
"It's all beautiful. When you go into the houses you feel the history, it's incredible - like going back in time."
Rubia said partner Kenneth is "very supportive" of the ambitious project. She is able to jet to Sicily so frequently because her work is entirely remote.
Once fully furnished, Rubia plans to list the property on Airbnb for some extra income. She said: "It was a fantastic new concept for me. I work in the environmental industry and to use what we already have where properties have been abandoned - it’s a great opportunity.
"In Sicily the air is clean, the food is great - the place is just great. Mussomeli is a small town, but we still have hospitals, banks, pharmacies, supermarkets, bars, restaurants and a little area with boutiques.
"It’s a small town but everything is in place, you don’t have to go out of town for anything. It's only 40 minutes to the coast and there are plenty of archaeological sites to see as well.
"And in years to come I can pass the houses onto my children. All of this is possible because of the one euro programme."
