California woman purchases 3 Italian homes for $3.30.

Rubia Daniels, a San Francisco-based woman, bought three abandoned houses in Mussomeli, Sicily for just $3.30 in 2019 and is currently restoring them. Italy has been offering similar schemes to repopulate its rural areas, including paying millennials to move to fast-emptying towns and giving away homes for free. Daniels plans to turn one of her houses into an art gallery, use another as her own residence, and convert the third into a wellness center for the community. She believes restoration is an environmental concept that can help reduce the need for new construction.