‘It made me feel at peace’: This former teacher bought a bargain home in a rural Italian village for a simpler life

“It just was everything that I wanted in a European home.” says former school teacher Amelia Butler, who bought a property in Latronico, Basilicata. (Courtesy Amelia Butler via CNN Newsource)

She was craving peace and quiet after working as a teacher for 20 years, and Amelia Butler from the. U.S. says that buying a bargain home in Italy has given her just that.

The 57-year-old now spends half of the year in the rural village of Latronico, located in the deep southern region of Italy’s Basilicata, and the rest in Philadelphia, her home town.

It’s a dream come true for Butler, who loves the remoteness of the idyllic village, surrounded by mountains, and says she is finally able to “relax, enjoy life and people” there.

“I like the beauty of the countryside. I love to walk a lot in the village and on the rural trails. It’s just very serene,” Butler, who currently works as an life and education consultant, tells CNN.

Idyllic village

The former English and Maths high school teacher decided to pursue her dream of moving abroad after becoming more and more stressed at work and wanting a change.

“I was putting on weight, my blood pressure was going up, and I wanted to retire,” she says, adding that she’d been thinking of leaving the U.S. for a few years.

Butler had a few destinations in mind, and looked at properties in various countries, including Costa Rica, the United Kingdom and Honduras. But there was one place that she loved visiting and always kept coming back to — Italy.

When she learned of a bargain housing scheme in the Italian town of Latronico, where authorities have been selling and renting low-cost properties since 2021 in a bid to revive the underpopulated village, Butler took a closer look.

She was enticed by the quiet location surrounded by mountains, as well as by the affordable property prices.

“I wanted a place where I could be in and around nature,” Butler says. “I had no desire to live in a big city such as Rome.”

Butler checked out the online platform and was drawn to a photo of a property in the historic district of Latronico.

“I knew it was mine,” Butler says, describing the “unobstructed” view from the home of the Sinni Valley with the Sinni river running through it.

“When I saw the picture of the view from the window, literally I got tears in my eyes; it was so beautiful, it made me feel at peace.”

She later purchased the one-bedroom home, which also has a lower-level storage area, without viewing the property in person or even visiting the village.

“I didn’t want something that was a total gut job where I had to redo everything. What I liked was that this property was basically ‘turnkey.’”

Although the purchase price was originally 14,000 euros ($16,240), Butler was able to work out a deal with the owners to buy the property, which has a balcony overlooking the area’s valley and mountains, for 12,500 euros ($14,500).

Latronico local Vincenzo Castellano, the founder of the housing platform, and his partner, Mariangela Tortorella, were on hand to guide her through the purchasing process, which took around three to four months.

“They handled all communication with the property owners and the notary, taking care of collecting and preparing the necessary documents for signing,” she says.

“Everything was made incredibly simple, and there was no need for me to travel to Italy.”

Closeknit community

Butler says the process was “smooth,” although she occasionally questioned herself, asking, “Am I doing the right thing?… Is this crazy?”

In May 2023, Butler headed to Latronico for the first time, bringing her daughter, who lives in the U.S., along with her.

Once she arrived in the town, Butler was instantly charmed by the old cobblestone alleys and quiet corners of Latronico’s old district.

“I love how I have to walk up to my house, through the alleys, the quietness,” she says. “It just was everything that I wanted in a European home.”

According to Butler, the “calming” area had a healing effect on her and she felt better after just a few days there.

She was particularly struck by the quietness of Latronico, and noticed that there didn’t seem to be any children around.

“We didn’t see kids for a couple days, and we wondered, ‘What’s going on?’ I guess the time we walked around, they were in school,” says Butler, adding that she and her daughter were relieved when they finally saw some children a few days later.

The village has a population of around 4,000, which is mainly made up of older, or middle-aged residents, according to Butler, who says there are very few people around for much of the day.

“That was one of the adjustments, because in the States wherever I go, I see people all the time,” she says.

“It was kind of a little eerie to me at first, ‘Oh, where’s everybody?’ I asked myself. And there’s not a lot of shops in town, even though you have all the necessities.”

Butler’s arrival in Latronico didn’t go unnoticed. She jokingly recalls “the stares,” from residents and overhearing a store owner saying, “Oh, an American just left,” as another customer walked in.

Peaceful location

Butler loves the community feel of the village, describing how the “welcoming” residents all head out for morning coffee and hang out in the piazza together during the evening.

As for the food, she appreciates the freshness and lightness of the different dishes and ingredients, but isn’t fond of the popular crusco peppers, eaten in a variety of ways in Basilicata.

“I had to adjust a little bit to the food,” Butler says. “I make my own food and I’ve never had the dried peppers that they (the locals) have, which are good, I guess to some people.”

Butler now eats pasta more regularly than before, but says she’ll probably never become accustomed to having it twice a day like many locals do.

“I like the taste of the pasta in Latronico as opposed to in the US, where the pasta at the store has been processed, made to stay on the shelf forever,” she says.

After travelling extensively in the past to countries including Portugal, Japan and Costa Rica, Butler says she has become very adaptable and that there were no major “culture shocks” or challenges to living in Italy’s deep south.

One of the biggest adjustments for her has been the shorter opening time of local shops, which sometimes close for business in the middle of the day.

“In (Philadelphia), our markets are open till 10 to 11 o’clock at night,” Butler says, explaining that she has to plan ahead when she’s in Latronico. “So anytime I need something from the store, there’s a 24-hour place to get something.

“That was one of the major adjustments, to know that I can’t just get up in the middle of the night and pick up a bottle of wine from the market.”

Butler has a digital nomad visa, which permits highly skilled, non-EU remote workers, to live and work in Italy.

Latronico’s peaceful atmosphere allows her to focus without the regular distractions she has in Philadelphia, and she’s currently writing a book about her experience, as well as working remotely.

She hasn’t begun learning Italian yet, but Butler has been able to get by regardless, and plans to take lessons in the future.

In the meantime, she’s been busy renovating her property, completing mainly aesthetic and functional tasks, such as upgrading the electrical system, repainting the walls and adding laundry facilities.

The renovation, which included giving both the bathroom and kitchen a makeover, has cost her a total of $18,000 so far. Butler is also working on restyling the downstairs space of the property.

She’s happy to split her time between the U.S. and Italy for now, but hopes to retire to Latronico fully in the future.

When in Italy, Butler spends a lot of time walking, hiking and interacting with the locals, as well as visiting different parts of the country, and other European destinations.

Travelling from Philadelphia to Latronico each year takes around 24 hours, including a five-hour bus ride from Rome, but Butler sees this as another part of the slow-paced life she craved for.

“What touches me the most is the simpleness of living in Latronico,” she says.

“In my professional life I have done and been responsible for so much, it is nice to be able to relax, enjoy life and people, and just breathe,” she says. “The only thing I would change, is doing it sooner.”