Meet the Woman Who is Living the American Dream in Italy
Stephanie Synclair, 41, was thrilled to have the freedom to choose her hours when she left corporate America to launch her own company.
When Stephanie Synclair first visited the location that would eventually become her second home in 2012, she was enjoying her own “Eat, Pray, Love” journey.
Synclair, an Atlanta resident, purchased a villa in Sicily in 2022 for 59,000 euros, or roughly $62,000, and made it her home away from home.
“I knew from the moment I landed that I loved it here, and it was almost like home for me,” Synclair told CNBC.
The founder of the tea company LaRue 1680, found Sicilians welcoming. Synclair recollected meeting a non-English-speaking woman as she and Caden were strolling the streets in search of somewhere to dine.
“I always said I could see myself living here, but it was more so in a dream way,” she explained. “I never actually saw myself buying a house here. I don’t know that I really thought it was possible at the time.”
She started looking for a house outside America and found her heart moving to Sicily.
She looked for a real estate company that offers homes at reasonable costs, and in November 2021 she discovered her ideal Italian home, which is 4,000 square feet, three bedrooms, and two bathrooms. She closed on it in March of the following year.
Even though it needed some work, she spent about $21,000, which will let her build a bathroom and bedroom and convert the garage into a living room and bar.
Synclair had considered purchasing a home in the United States after mortgage rates decreased during the pandemic, but when they increased once more in 2021, the price of homes in the areas she wanted to live in shot up to $800,000, much above her $450,000 budget.
“I live more than comfortably on my current salary, even with Atlanta being a lot pricier than it is here in Sicily, because I live for almost nothing here,” she said.
She travels abroad approximately every 12 weeks and divides her time between the United States and Europe, but her ultimate goal is to retire at a lower cost and live permanently in Sicily.
