Australian designers Shaynna Blaze and Darren Palmer have put their reconstructed Sicilian village residence on the market for €195,000 (A$316,000), capping an extensive overhaul that fused two crumbling structures into a single multi-level home.
Both properties originally cost just €1 each. The designers bought the structures sight-unseen in Castronovo di Sicilia, a quiet hill town nestled in the Sicani Mountains roughly halfway between Palermo and Agrigento. The buildings had sat abandoned for decades. Centuries of neglect left the stone facades fractured and the timber rotting. Palmer was blunt when confronted with the initial footage: “This is so much worse than I thought!”
Parts of the 400-to-500-year-old masonry proved structurally unsalvageable. Rather than attempt an unstable patch, the renovation crew tore down the compromised wing. They transformed the resulting void into a private, open-air Mediterranean walled garden—an uncommon luxury in the dense, stone-paved footprint of an ancient Italian hill settlement.
Palmer acquired the adjoining building next door. The duo then punched through the dividing walls, stitching both sites into a cohesive four-level floor plan spanning roughly 160 square metres based on architectural schematics. The finished property houses two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a ground-floor powder room, and a lock-up garage.
| Property Parameter | Official Specification |
|---|---|
| Location | Castronovo di Sicilia, Sicily (Sicani Mountains) |
| Original Purchase Price | €1 per property (two adjoining structures) |
| Current Asking Price | €195,000 (approx. A$316,000) |
| Internal Floor Area | ~160 sq metres (architectural calculation) |
| Configuration | 4 levels, 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, garage |
| Key Amenities | Walled garden, top-floor terrace bar, summer room |
| Sale Condition | Fully furnished including artworks and decor |
The rebuild leans heavily into indigenous Sicilian craft rather than imported flat-pack minimalism. Local stonemasons, ceramicists, and marble cutters supplied the finishes for the kitchen and wet areas. Exposed stone, hidden masonry arches, reclaimed antique roof tiles, and timber ceiling beams remain visible across all four floors.
The summer room pairs rough-hewn stone perimeters with poured concrete floors and curated vintage furnishings. Upstairs, the top floor opens into an entertaining terrace bar overlooking the mountain valleys. Even the lighting carries regional provenance: Blaze tracked down the living room's centerpiece chandelier in a Palermo antique outlet, haggling the vendor down from €170 to €150.
Every piece stays. The sale is completely turnkey, transferring all furniture, bespoke lighting, framed artworks, soft textiles, and kitchen equipment directly to the buyer.
Blaze pitched the property directly to prospective buyers seeking European refuge, arguing the €195,000 valuation barely matches an entry-level one-bedroom flat in major Australian capitals.
I'm so proud of what Darren and I have been able to achieve with our minimal budget, our timeline, our lack of help. If you have loved watching this and want to live the Sicilian dream, well, this is your chance.
Shaynna Blaze, Designer & Television Judge
Market Context: Italy's rural one-euro housing schemes aim to repopulate hollowed-out inland municipalities, but buyers face strict municipal covenants requiring substantial capital outlays and rigid completion deadlines to make the centuries-old structures habitable.
Castronovo di Sicilia sits an hour's drive from Palermo, the provincial capital of Agrigento, and the southern coastline, with Falcone Borsellino Airport roughly 80 minutes away by road. Settlement proceedings and private inspections for the property will open immediately through appointed European property agents.