(Image courtesy of HGTV)
What if we told you for one euro you could buy a home in Sicily? No, seriously. It’s a thing.
Hicksville, New York native Lorraine Bracco, famous for her roles in "Goodfellas" and "The Sopranos," didn’t stick to the normal Hollywood script for her latest project. She’s in Sicily renovating a home for her new HGTV series “My Big Italian Adventure.”
The show, which premiered in October, takes you through the journey of purchasing, renovating and enjoying her creative home improvement endeavor in the small picturesque town of Sambuca di Sicilia, located about 42 miles southwest of Palermo.
"I believe life is an adventure," said Bracco on HGTV.com. "When I saw the article that you could buy a house in Sambuca for one euro, I jumped on it. So, I came on the plane. I bought the house."
Bracco, 66, settled on a 200-year-old home, which has views of the town’s lake and hillside canvas.
The housing program is meant to stimulate growth in the economy as long as the one euro (roughly $1.18) homes are renovated within three years. These are not glamorous pieces of property, however. They need total reconstruction and coordination with contractors and building specialists, which tallies to low six figures in cost, including the gem Bracco overhauls in her four-part series.
"This is a huge undertaking,” said Bracco, a 1972 graduate of Hicksville High School. "I'm not a contractor. I'm not a decorator. I'm an actress. I've never done this before. It's a lot of work, but everything is possible. I believe that."