'It needed a new EVERYTHING': Couple reveal the reality of transforming a 17th-century Italian lakeside property into their dream home - for just £102,900

An Italian lake house overlooking the water and perfectly crafted to your taste – that's the dream of one couple who are currently renovating an abandoned home in the Bel Paese.Kristina Knighten, 40, and Paul Cordier, 48, purchased the property in 2020 for €23,000 (£19,700) after ditching their plans to buy a house in Chicago, where Kristina is originally from. Both had struggled to get mortgages in their home countries of America and the UK due to living and earning abroad, so have instead decided to build a life together on Lake Iseo in Lombardy, Italy. But while the price tags here may be small, the couple have discovered plenty of hidden costs attached to property in this region. In fact, as Kristina exclusively told the Daily Mail: 'We definitely didn't know what we were signing up for financially.'They were aware it needed a new roof and a new floor upstairs, but as Kristina explains in a video on their Instagram @theworldisyouroystermushroom, 'We didn't know that in fact it needed a new everything.'The pair had around $40,000 saved when they bought the home, equating to €35,000 (£30,000) at the time of purchasing, and then saved up for a few more years before beginning the huge renovation in 2024, when the Daily Mail first interviewed them. Initially, they hired local contractors to complete some of the work – but ran out of cash 'pretty quick', says Kristina.They now both work locally as teachers in a freelance capacity. The American explains: 'We work a lot and live very frugally, and then we'll get a bit of cash saved and we reinvest that all into the house.' Kristina Knighten, 40, and Paul Cordier, 48, purchased their two-bedroom Italian lake house in 2020 The couple, who work as freelance teachers in the local area, are doing much of the renovations on their €23,000 property themselvesHer husband Paul does a lot of the renovation work himself to help save money too. So far, the flooring and roof work is complete, with just 'the last bits of messy work' left, such as plastering and repointing the walls. Along the way, the couple have uncovered some structural challenges with the house, including a downstairs window whose lintel 'was really bowing'.'If the lintel were to break, that wall would have crumbled in a significant way, so we had to fill in that wall,' Kristina says, adding their engineer had to work out how to reinforce the entire structure. 'There's not really a way we could have known about that until we started doing the renovations,' she explains. 'That was one of the bigger added expenses - just making sure that you know this building that stood for hundreds of years can stand for another couple of 100.'Paul injuring himself during a water ski incident is another setback the couple have had to navigate too as it meant he was out of action for some time. Despite any difficulties along the way, there have been some pleasant surprises too, including the discovery of majestic brick walls.In a video on TikTok where the pair also post, Kristina explains how all of the internal walls were plastered when they first bought the property. They made the decision to remove the plaster due to it being old and soon discovered 'gorgeous medieval stone walls' underneath. So far, the flooring and roof work is complete, with just 'the last bits of messy work' left to complete When removing plastering from the walls, the couple discovered beautiful medieval brickworkThey then had to work through the painstaking task of repointing the bricks, as they plan to leave them exposed throughout the home. A medieval window was also discovered bricked up beneath the plaster. Kristina explains: '[This] was so cool because we had no idea how old the house was. Italian record keeping doesn't go back that far when it comes to individual residential houses.'They estimate their new abode could date back to 'at least the 1700s and before'. As for how much Kristina estimates the huge project could cost by the time it's finished – and it's a very modest price for a dreamy Italian lakeside property. 'It's hard to say exactly, probably about €120,000 (£102,900),' she says, revealing it would be difficult to get a two-bedroom house in the area for such a good price. Until the project is complete, however, the couple are living in Paul's sister's apartment only two doors down free of charge – although even that living situation has its challenges. 'I don't think anything's been touched in this house since the 1950s, there's no heating in the house, the bathroom is outside,' Kristina says. 'It's rustic, but we're making it work.' After so many setbacks the American is reluctant to voice a firm end-date for the project. Though the project has come with some challenges, the couple have no regrets taking it on'It is hard to say, and it just depends on funding and stuff,' Kristina explains. 'Since starting this project I've had so many move-in dates in my head and every single one has come and gone, so I'm hesitant in my own mind to even put in a hopeful date of moving because I just know how it can go.'Nevertheless, the couple are looking forward to the eventual end of all their hard work.'I think it'll all be worth it,' insists Kristina. 'It's hard to say, if we knew then what we know now would we have made the same decision?'I don't know because we could have taken the money that we purchased this place with and then the amount of savings we were able to accumulate in the three years following the purchase and bought a habitable property.'However, she adds they have 'learned a lot' through the process, made lots of friends and have 'totally fallen in love with this town, with the neighbours, it's such a beautiful community'.Kristina says: 'I don't regret it for sure, nor does Paul, but we definitely didn't know what we were signing up for financially.'