An Italy property renovation project designed to create a dream home has turned into a new way of life for one couple.

Dan Blagg from Dover, Delaware, US and his Italian partner Francesco Bianchini moved to a hilltop town in Umbria in 2003 with the intention of creating their perfect Italy property, only to discover they wanted to keep going once it was finished, the New Yorker reports.

The couple then sold their farmhouse-style Italy property, east of Todi, for a profit, moving on to a two-floor ruin with an original Roman wall in the same town.

Mr Blagg tells the newspaper: ‘We were blown away by the space and the original features that were virtually untouched.’

It turned out to be an excellent Italy property investment for the couple, who bought it at a rate of approximately 900 euros (£768) per square metre, compared to the current value of such property which is around 2,345 (£2,000) per square metre.

Todi – meaning ‘a fortified place’ – is a medieval town that is still surrounded by original Roman and Etruscan walls.

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