Writing by the Sea

What writer doesn't want to live in a house by the sea? It's the perfect place to dream and write, the perfect place for a writing retreat. Have you ever seen an old house and wondered who lived in it years ago? What was their story and how it fell into disrepair? Sixteen summers ago I sat in the sunshine and gazed at a dilapidated house with trees growing out of its roof on the outskirts of Sorrento and imagined who might have lived there. Sixteen years ago we didn't have smartphones and tablets to instantly research the history so it remained a mystery. But I always wondered what the history was. Friends I met on holiday that year gave me a photograph of the mystery house. It is framed and hangs in the hall in my house and I've often thought about the house and imagined the summer parties that took place on the terrace, as the sun set over Vesuvius. This summer when I returned to Sorrento I was in for a surprise.

En route from Naples airport we were advised by the holiday company there was a problem with the hotel booking but that alternative accommodation had been found. They were also going to throw in dinner and wine. Then they dropped the bombshell - the alternative accommodation was to be in a convent. But this was no ordinary convent. It was Villa Crawford, the former home of the American writer, Francis Marion Crawford https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Marion_Crawford Can you imagine my excitement? We were going to stay in the former home of a famous writer!

On his death, the home passed down through his family to the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco. In recent years there has been a major renovation and refurbishment programme and while still a functioning convent, Villa Crawford is now also a guest house with spectacular sea views.

 The sunsets over the bay of Naples were breath-taking

Vesuvius

 I didn't expect sea views quite like these! Just perfect.

Villa Crawford houses many of the original features, with old winding stone stairs at the back for servants and bright marble staircases at the front for guests. It also features a fabulous restaurant and beautiful gardens and stunning sea views.

It was a house built at the time of the European grand tour, a house from a former time, when writers were wealthy people who could afford to build and live in houses by the sea. It's a house to dream about, which is what I had done sixteen years ago. It was the perfect place to start a fantastic holiday....and in case you haven't guessed, it's also the mystery house in my picture, taken sixteen summers ago.