He bought a cheap house in Italy. This is what happened next

(CNN) – Italy’s cheap home bonanza continues to attract hundreds of interested buyers, despite the pandemic. But what happens once someone takes the plunge and makes a (small) investment in a dilapidated corner of a remote city?

For Roy Patrick, a 67-year-old British car and motorcycle fanatic, who bought an old school building in the northern mountain town of Carrega Ligure for around $ 16,500, it has been an adventure – not without setbacks, as a fallen fireplace and a stuck door – and also a joy

Patrick, from Oxford, bought the property after arriving in town, in the mountains on the border of Italy’s Piedmont and Ligure regions, almost by accident.

He arrived after disembarking from a Mediterranean cruise after his divorce in the port of Genoa, where he met people who told him the wonders of the town. He decided to visit it and take a look at it and was fascinated with the place.

After touring several old properties, he fell in love with the 1930s school building and bought it in 2017.

“The other houses were nice but they had nothing special, they could have been in any small Italian town hidden among the alleys,” says Patrick. “But this particular era, the view is unique: the way the sun sets over the mountains, you say ‘wow’. It is my personal Arcadia, my Nirvana, therapeutic place ».

READ: They bought a US $ 1 house in Italy, then the covid-19 struck

The property, which was unloaded by the local city hall as part of an initiative to boost populations in declining communities (similar to many operating throughout Italy), is located in the quiet neighborhood of Connio, where only 12 people live.

Since the purchase, he has been visiting every two weeks, even during the pandemic. He does business in Italy buying and reselling old three-wheelers. He says he has found a new family in town and a bucolic haven to detox and unwind in the fresh air.

Carrega, he adds, has many charms.

“First on the list is the friendliness of the local people, followed by the breathtaking views when I look out the windows looking out over the valley. Mine is the best landscape in town.

“Also, I am very lucky to have, a few meters away, a fountain fed by the invigorating fresh water that descends from the mountain peaks.”

Chimney collapse

Patrick says his initial encounter with his new home was not promising at all.

Remember that the mayor had to climb a ladder to enter through a window to open the building. It had been locked for decades and the door was jammed, and the keys were nowhere to be found.

A subsequent structural disaster turned into a positive outcome. When on Christmas Eve an unstable chimney collapsed due to heavy snow, one of Patrick’s neighbors volunteered to climb on his roof and secure the house. Patrick says he was shocked when the man refused to be paid. The people are welcoming, he said, they want to help the newcomers and they don’t want anything in return. At most, a heady glass of red wine to drink together.

SIGHT: PHOTOS | The Italian town that sells houses for a dollar

Patrick says he has made many friends in town and enjoys his Italian dinners with them.

During the minimal renovations necessary to make the old school livable, Patrick says he has unearthed a treasure trove of historical finds.

In the attic, he discovered relics from the building’s previous life: dusty piles of old textbooks, inkwells, glass bottles, student records, and other quirky items reminiscent of days gone by when 20 students were taught in what is now Patrick’s living room.

On the door there is a mosaic with Roman numerals indicating the year the school was built. Patrick has decided to keep the original tile floors and wood covered walls.

Carrega, where many people are selling their empty family homes for as little as $ 12,000, also feels frozen in time in many ways.