When Italian villages started selling houses for the price of a cup of coffee, most foreign buyers rushing to grab a slice of the action saw it as a fun property hunt - a search for the ultimate bargain. But for some, buying an old home in an offbeat location has turned out to be a life-changer. In 2021, Jeffrey Pfefferle bought two abandoned houses in the Sicilian town of Mussomeli. One cost one euro - a little over a dollar.

The other was a "premium" property - a ready-to-occupy home in need of only minor fixes. Pfefferle - a South California-based retiree in his late 50s - and his British partner Leon McNaught never imagined how much the purchases could change their lives. "It gave us an opportunity to take a closer look at our lives and we found that the things we value in life are abundant in Mussomeli," says Pfefferle.