Two teachers bought a $27,000 Italian lake house instead of spending more to move back to the US. Take a look.

Maria NoyenMay 30, 2024, 16:03 IST

Kristina Knighten and Paul Cordier ditched plans to live in the US for the opportunity to own a cheaper house by a lake in Italy.Courtesy of Kristina Knighten and Paul Cordier

Kristina Knighten and Paul Cordier bought a fixer-upper listed for $27,000 by a lake in Italy.
The couple are teachers and stumbled upon Lago Iseo, the town, during a European road trip in 2018.

Kristina Knighten was never interested in a conventional life. Luckily, neither was her husband, Paul Cordier.

The couple, who are both English-as-a-second-language (ESL) teachers, met while working in Vietnam in 2014. Bustling Ho Chi Minh City was a far cry from the suburbs of Chicago, where Knighten, 38, grew up.

But the move made sense for Knighten.

"I need to see new things, and my wanderlust needs to be satiated," she told Business Insider.

After a few years in Asia, Knighten and Cordier, who is 46, got teaching jobs in the UAE with annual salaries just shy of $70,000.

"Making $1,500 a month was not going to cut it for the rest of our lives," she said.

They decided to save for a down payment on a house in Chicago, where the typical home sells for about $350,000, according to Realtor.com.

It would have been tough, even with their new salaries, as many young Americans struggle to buy homes amid a challenging housing market with low supply, high prices, and relatively high mortgage rates — but it wouldn't have been impossible.

Nevertheless, a fateful European road trip in 2018 led Knighten and Cordier to abandon their plans. Take a look.

Knighten and Cordier fell in love with a lakeside town in northern Italy.

Lago Iseo is in Northern Italy, close to the Alps.Andrew Mayovskyy/Shutterstock

The couple drove to the lake and stayed for a few days, getting to know the area and meeting locals.

The island in the middle of Lago Iseo is called Monte Isola.trabantos/Shutterstock

Within days, Knighten and Cordier were scouting properties on the island and even considered buying a pig shed.

The pig shed had been slightly modernized, but no one had ever lived there.Courtesy of Kristina Knighten and Paul Cordier

Undeterred, they came back in 2019 and found a house for sale for €25,000, or $27,000.

The house was listed at nearly half of what a down payment on a property in Chicago would have cost the couple.Courtesy of Kristina Knighten and Paul Cordier

The house was beautiful but had an "eerie" feel because the previous owner had suddenly died.

The main bedroom prior to renovations.Courtesy of Kristina Knighten and Paul Cordier

It needed a lot of work, but the couple ended up putting up a €500, or $540, deposit the day they saw it.

The couple were all in on their Italian fixer-upper.Courtesy of Paul Cordier and Kristina Knighten

When the couple got married in 2022, their families got a chance to see the magic of the lake.

Cordier and Knighten got married on Monto Isola four years after they visited it for the first time.Courtesy of Kristina Knighten and Paul Cordier

Around the same time, the couple began thinking their fantasy of living in Italy could become reality.

The couple gradually started thinking they could move to Italy full-time.Courtesy of Kristina Knighten and Paul Cordier

The renovation kicked off in full swing in March — and it's still ongoing.

The house needed a whole new roof and floors.Courtesy of Kristina Knighten and Paul Cordier

During renovations, Knighten and Cordier discovered their house is a lot older than they thought.

The medieval window meant the house was older than the couple expected.Courtesy of Kristina Knighten and Paul Cordier

They also kept a lot of furniture the previous owner left behind to add character and save money.

The couple is getting creative with their renovation choices in order to cut down costs.Courtesy of Kristina Knighten and Paul Cordier

Knighten and Cordier might have been happy in the US, but she has no doubts Italy was the right choice.

Knighten and Cordier were living in the UAE when they stumbled upon Lago Iseo during a summer vacation in 2018.Courtesy of Kristina Knighten and Paul Cordier

I paid $500 for a private room on a 30-hour Amtrak ride that came with 2 beds and a toilet. Take a look inside.

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