I would say we are just an ordinary couple who did, for us, an extraordinary thing. We bought a little house in the medieval part of a pretty Italian village and now spend all our holidays there. This website is our way of letting other people know about Roccacasale and how they can also enjoy time there. We have included details of where to stay, where to visit and where to eat. As we find more places we will add them.

All the comments are our own personal ones. If you find any inaccuracies please let us know so that we can amend them. If you have any suggestions for things to include then we would be delighted to hear from you.
Ann & Roger

“Oh! You’ve bought a house in Italy? How wonderful. I suppose you know Italy quite well and have spent lots of holidays there.”

Well actually, no.  We went for one week in March 2006 and then returned two months later to buy the house.  Let me explain.

Roger had always dreamed of buying a house as an investment project and began to investigate, via the internet, all the usual places; France – too expensive – too far to drive; Spain – the language would be a problem; Bulgaria??!! I was becoming rather worried.  In my usual pessimistic fashion I was imagining all the dreadful things that could happen.

And then Roger found a website for an agency that sold houses in Italy, some of which were as cheap as 11,000 euros! It seemed too good to be true. The firm was run by two English women who had married Italians and it had an office in the airport at Pescara, Abruzzo.  ‘Where?’ I can hear you ask.  We had never heard of the area either.

Roger began a regular email correspondence with Eva and our office became littered with the printouts of house details.  Many of the properties needed a great deal of imagination to see them as ideal holiday homes and I was still not convinced that we would be able to afford anything reasonable.

Anyway, we decided to spend a week in Abruzzo and take advantage of the local scouts who would show us round properties in our price range.  I thought I would definitely enjoy the week as a holiday but did not hold out much hope of finding our perfect project.

We flew from Stansted courtesy of Ryanair and after two hours approached the Adriatic coast of Italy over a very blue sea.  The landing was quite exciting as Pescara airport is very near the coast. The rest of the passengers must have shared my concern as they greeted the safe but rather bumpy landing with a round of applause.  This came to be a common occurrence – Italians obviously feel that flying is a hazardous business.We had all of 200 metres to walk from the plane to passport control and then no problem finding the correct baggage carousel – there is only one! 

Pescara airport is small and very friendly.  We walked along the concourse and found the house agency’s office.  Eva greeted us like long lost friends with an effusive hug and kisses on both cheeks. She gave us details of where to meet the two scouts she had arranged tours with and also how to find our hotel in Sulmona.  ‘It is easy!’ she assured us, ‘Just turn left at the traffic lights and follow the signs for Rome.’ You should be told now that all Italians profess to find their road system straightforward. It isn’t and even Italians get lost.

We eventually found our hotel after dark and enjoyed a pleasant meal before retiring. On opening the curtains in the morning we were greeted by the most spectacular view of blue sky and mountains, all topped with the remains of the winter’s snow. The next few days were spent following various delightful Italian scouts around amazing assortment of sad dilapidated houses, some of them no more than walls and a front door.

Then one day, Feliciano drove us to Roccacasale. As we ascended the winding road and looked down at the ever increasing view of the valley, we were spellbound. We saw several houses that had possibilities but when we were shown into Casa Castagna and saw the view from the bedroom window, that was it. Don’t worry about all the work needing to be done, just look at the view!