A cosy cottage in a beautiful area in the heart of “real Italy”.

Casa Guerci was our home for 18 years until September 2004. It has 3 bedrooms, a large kitchen, a living room, a study, 2 bathrooms and a dining room, which is a "room with a view" out over fields and rolling hills at the back. It is in a quiet, almost abandoned hamlet, 1 kilometre from the main road from Piane di Falerone to Penna San Giovanni. At the back is a small garden and nearby a path leads down towards the river for long quiet walks.

The cottage has 3 separate heating systems: gas central heating in the kitchen, study, bathroom and two bedrooms; independent gas radiators in the third bedroom, the living room and the dining room; and a wood fire in the kitchen. No heating is necessary from the beginning of May at least until the end of September. Hot water is provided all year by the gas boiler.

The area around is very beautiful. Penna San Giovanni is a mediaeval village at the top of a hill (730 m), about 4 km from the cottage. There is a shop and petrol station on the main road at 1 km, and the nearest supermarket is 4 km away in the valley at Piane di Falerone. This was an important Roman settlement and there are numerous ruins, including an amphitheatre. The nearest big town is Fermo which has an extraordinary history as the most important town in the region in the Mediaeval period. The Library, Art Gallery, Museum and amazing Roman reservoir under the square are all well worth a visit. Macerata is not much further (40 km) and is famous for its open-air opera season. Every town – every village – is full of treasures of art and architecture. The Venetian painter Carlo Crivelli worked in the area and many churches, such as the one in neighbouring Monte San Martino, still contain his altar-pieces.

The beach in Porto San Giorgio (40 minutes) is wonderful for children in the summer, and the mountains (30 minutes) are great all year - for skiing in winter and walking in the summer.

How to get there

The nearest airport is Ancona (80 km) and there are flights from Britain about once a week in Summer (but there are daily flights all year from Milan and Rome). Rimini is the next best - 150kms or an hour and a half down the motorway. There are Ryan Air flights from Stansted every day. You can also catch a train from Rimini to Porto San Giorgio, down on the coast, and a bus from there, changing at Piane di Falerone. Not recommended, except for the very resourceful: hiring a car will make life much easier. You could fly into Bologna and catch a train down the coast, or into Rome and get a bus over the mountains to Fermo (worth it just for the ride). You could also drive from Britain. We do sometimes.

Assuming that you fly in to Ancona, Rimini or Bologna and hire a car, you will be coming down the A14 Motorway. You should leave the motorway at Civitanova Marche, and take the state highway (superstrada) towards Macerata. Leave that at the first exit (Montecosaro) and turn right towards Sant'Elpidio a Mare. After 3 km take the road on the right with signs for Monte Urano and Montegiorgio. Keep going along the valley bottom between Monte Urano and Montegranaro, then up a long hill and down into the next valley. Turn right for Montegiorgio and Falerone. After nearly 10 km go straight through Piane di Montegiorgio and on for another 6-7 km to Piane di Falerone. Bear left in the centre, then turn right after the church (sign to Penna San Giovanni). You will see a supermarket ("Sidis") just round the corner. Keep going for about 4 km, until you see a big IP sign (petrol pumps, shop and and bar). Turn right here, following the sign to Guerci. Go down the hill for 1 km (through Guerci di Sopra - Upper Guerci) until you come to Guerci di Sotto.