beauty call

image courtesy of leonardociampa.com

Yes, there’s nothing wrong with your eyes. 1 euro. For a house. In Italy… sort of.

It’s quite brilliant actually. Vittoria Sgarbi, the controversial (former art critic and onetime anarchist) mayor of Salemi, Italy (pop. 11,436) has launched Progetto Terremoto – Project Earthquake – to revitalize the cultural stature and historic center of the town where many of the abandoned properties are in serious need of a fixup after an earthquake in 1968. One part of this plan is to sell houses for 1 euro + a guarantee from the new owner to restore the house within two years to its original architectural style using local talent to jump start the stagnant economy.  Estimated costs to renovate the house can fall anywhere between $114,000 and $600,000. 

Oh, and fyi – and prepare yourselves – Salemi now houses Mondo Kim’s obscure collection of 55,000 films. Yes, the Mondo Kim’s from St. Marks. Not a surprise when this town is run by prominent artists and intellectuals. The NYT writes, “A prince is in charge of town planning, and a performance artist was officially declared alderman to nothing. The provocative Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani, whose ad campaigns for Benetton included a series on AIDS patients and inmates on death row, was named alderman of creativity.” One question: what is an alderman to nothing?

So why buy a house in NYC when you can play a part in awakening the sleeping beauty that is Salemi and be a part of this art colony of the future.

Reminder to self: must save now.