This American Man Spent $1 Million on a New Home in Italy. Here’s What He Got for His Money

For years, Americans dreaming of Italy have been drawn to one euro fixer uppers, bargain village homes, and the fantasy of buying a slice of la dolce vita for less than the price of a used car. Vito Andrea Racanelli went in the opposite direction. The Denver attorney spent about €945,000, roughly $1.1 million, on a historic farmhouse estate in Radicondoli, a small Tuscan village near Siena, choosing space, history, and lifestyle over a cheap entry point.

What did that money buy him? Quite a lot by American standards, especially compared with high cost markets in the United States. Racanelli bought an aristocratic farmhouse known as Podere Doglio, a property believed to date to the 1750s. It includes a swimming pool and about five hectares of land, and it was once part of a rural borgo, or self sufficient hamlet.

The estate was not purchased as a vacation fantasy alone. Racanelli moved there in August 2024 with his wife Lynn and their two children, Vito and Carmen, after selling their home in Colorado and securing Italian citizenship by descent through his grandmother, who was from Molise in southern Italy. The family is currently living in one section of the estate while work continues on the rest of the property.

That living arrangement says something important about what a million dollars buys in Italy. It can buy a real estate trophy, but it can also buy an unfinished project. Racanelli has already spent around €100,000 on renovation work, according to the reporting, which means the headline purchase price was only part of the actual commitment.

Still, the appeal is easy to understand. In exchange for roughly what a modest to upscale home might cost in parts of Colorado, California, or the Northeast, he got a centuries old Tuscan estate surrounded by greenery and close to a major nature reserve. He also got access to a village lifestyle that he says felt immediately different from life in the United States. When he and his family visited Radicondoli, he said they saw children playing safely without supervision and neighbors stopping in the street to hug and talk. He decided to buy the property the same day.

For Racanelli, the purchase was also personal. His ancestors left Italy for the United States in the late 1800s, and his move in reverse was partly about reconnecting with family roots. He told CNN that Italy had been calling him back for years and that he wanted a safer, more active, and more adventurous environment for his family, along with a less hectic life and more time outdoors.

His story stands out because it is part of a wider trend, but at a much higher price point than most of the Italy buying stories that make headlines. Business Insider reported last year that Americans have increasingly been buying Italian properties for vacation use, part time living, and rental income, often because prices in many parts of Italy are far below what they would pay in large U.S. cities. In that context, Racanelli’s purchase shows the upper end of the same appeal: Italy is not just a bargain hunt, it is also a place where a seven figure budget can buy an estate with land, history, and room for a full family relocation.

So what did he get for his money? He got an 18th century Tuscan farmhouse estate, a pool, five hectares of land, a home base near Siena, and an everyday setting defined less by rush and sprawl than by landscape and community. He also got renovation bills, a major international move, and the work of turning a romantic idea into a functioning life. In other words, he got not just a house, but a whole reinvention project.