Little House, Big Restoration
Modica Alta, Sicily
The asking price is just €10,000 for approximately 80 m², with two bedrooms currently indicated in the listing and an additional attic space that may offer further potential. Its traditional façade and compact proportions make it particularly interesting for someone dreaming of creating a small Sicilian home without committing to an enormous property.
Modica Alta is the older, quieter side of the city, characterised by steep staircases, medieval lanes and houses climbing the hillside towards San Giovanni Evangelista and the Pizzo belvedere.
At a Glance
Asking Price
€10,000
Renovation Estimation
Approx. €100,000–140,000
Property Type
Traditional Sicilian Townhouse
Internal Area
Approx. 80 m²
Bedrooms
2
Bathrooms
1
Additional Space
Attic with potential for conversion, subject to technical verification and permissions
Condition
Full renovation required
Distance to the Coast
Approx. 20 minutes
Distance to Catania Airport
Approx. 1 hour 30 minutes
Why I Selected It
Obviously, €10,000 gets your attention.
But cheap houses aren't particularly difficult to find in Sicily. Cheap houses that have the potential to become genuinely lovely homes are much more interesting.
What I like here is the combination of a manageable footprint, historic façade and additional volume within the attic. At around 80 m², it's large enough to create a comfortable home without taking on the financial and practical burden of restoring a 200 or 300 m² palazzo.
The location also gives it a completely different atmosphere from Modica Bassa. This is the more vertical, residential side of the city, where streets become staircases and the historic centre gradually climbs towards San Giovanni Evangelista—the highest point of historic Modica.
Property Highlights
Exceptional €10,000 acquisition price
Approx. 80 m² footprint
Traditional Sicilian façade
Potential to expose the original timber roof
Opportunity for substantially better ceiling heights
Small enough to justify spending properly on the interiors
Historic Modica Alta setting
Renovation Notes
The existing roof is already in extremely poor condition and should be considered a complete replacement within the renovation. Rather than rebuilding the current arrangement, I would use that intervention to remove the false attic level and reinstate the full internal height of the house, ideally with a new traditional timber roof structure left exposed internally.
That single decision could transform the architecture: suddenly an approximately 80 m² house has tall, dramatic rooms rather than compromised ceilings and an unusable storage level.
Beyond the roof, I would anticipate essentially starting again internally: new electrical and plumbing systems, kitchen and bathroom, heating and cooling, windows and doors, finishes, lighting and restoration of the historic façade.
I would therefore allow approximately €100,000–€140,000 for the complete renovation, including the roof replacement, depending ultimately on the design and specification. Combined with the €10,000 asking price, this becomes roughly a €110,000–€150,000 project before purchase costs and professional fees.
The value isn't in trying to extract every possible square metre from the building. It's in taking a very inexpensive historic shell and using the renovation budget to make 80 m² feel significantly better than 80 m².
Best Suited For
Buyers looking for an affordable entry point into Sicily
Those who actively want a restoration project
Couples or individuals seeking a compact historic home
Design-conscious buyers who would rather spend on the renovation than the purchase
Those drawn to the quieter, more residential atmosphere of Modica Alta
Buyers seeking a Sicilian pied-à-terre rather than a large family property
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