I have had a thirty year love affair with Italy. The sun is warm, the figs are sweet and the people generous of spirit. There are olive trees and Giottos, turquoise seas and musky churches and a daily civility that warms my heart. I spent a winter of my youth near Siena, met my husband in Florence and since then Italy has delighted me and drawn me back both as a professional photographer and on the slightest whim.

Over the years I have travelled from London to Rome, Naples to Venice photographing some of the finest homes for international sales and rental companies and for interiors magazines. And then one day I came across the Marche. Arriving here it seemed to me so quiet and beautiful, what with its mountains and sea, peaceful medieval hill-towns and kind, hard-working people. And so before long we had bought a farmhouse with wild fields and an olive grove and here I feel at home.

Since then I have grown deeply fond of Marche. I care about my adopted village, this landscape, these buildings and their future. However, the population in the countryside and hill-towns is diminishing. My neighbours are elderly and few, yet still working hard on their land. Their knowledge about living here has been handed down over generations. They know about the earth, the stars, how to find wild herbs, prune olive trees and when to plant their garlic. Their skill and wisdom are invaluable and I believe can be shared by our generation and taken into the modern world.

Here in my village many houses stand empty; their shutters closed, owners dead and children gone off to the city. The village needs people who want to make a home here. Who will not only buy or rent a house, but who will buy their honey from Primo, their handkerchiefs from Maria and their biscuits from Rita the baker. There are some fine buildings to be saved and tangled gardens to restore, so if you want a home in Italy you'll find a warm welcome in these hills.

Houses for sale in Marche