I am a writer and storyteller born in Scotland but have spent a great deal of time in Italy and I am currently living my lifelong dream of restoring a lovely old Tuscan villa and am looking for volunteers to help in exchange for full bed and board. I am hoping to be totally self sufficient here in my little homestead and to create an eco friendly food garden. I hope in the future to be able to host workshops here and enjoy visits from my very large and very busy family and group of friends. This is a beautiful part of Tuscany, in the mountains, surrounded by chestnut forests and rivers but close enough to the beach and skiing resorts (40 mins) to offer the best of all worlds. 15 mins from the fabulous medieval (and market) town of Pontremoli and just over an hour from Pisa, under 2 hours from Parma, Milan, Florence, Bologna and many other beautiful cities. It has everything including cheap and frequent flights to and from Pisa!

Massa D Carrara Tuscany

I'm looking for 2 or 3 people from June onwards (you may need to share a large bedroom). Must be over 21yrs old to do 5 hours work per day, 5 days a week with weekends off for up to 4 weeks. I have plans and planning permission for the work to be done. As per the stipulations on the plans, I have already secured the paid services of an Italian electrican and an Italian plumber, the rest of the work is purely manual labour. So now there is a need for someone with experience in the building trade as there is a doorway to be knocked through from one room to another, walls to be chipped out for the electric cables and pipes. Mixing sand and cement for example and laying floors. Lots of outside painting and gardening maintanance, doors and shutters removed, rubbed down and repainted. Garden cleared and planted eco friendly fashion (I'm still learning). Wooden pergola built.

English and Italian very basic French

villa, in a lively village, no shops but a bar which sells most essentials! Beautiful clean bedrooms but in a very old and run down villa. There is currently only 1 shower room, no bath (There will be 3 showers and 2 baths when the work is complete) however, in the meantime, there is an excellent river nearby where there is also the chance to soak in the warm sunshine! To eat, there is an abundance of excellent produce, all food and wines from local growers. I do all of the cooking and have been told I am a very good cook! Along with free bed and full board in exchange for the work, I also offer free Italian cookery lessons and free very basic lessons in Italian.

Due to the number of responses we've had so far to come and stay at our "lovely Tuscan Villa" I feel the need to point out that it will one day be just that, especially after all our (and your) hard work but it is not like that now.

It is wind and watertight and the kitchen is homely with a dated stove, table and chairs and not much else and the bedrooms are clean and comfortable with new beds. The food is great and the hosts are fantastic.
The good stuff ends there. Inside and outside the house is very poor it lay empty for many years and will be brought back to it's original splendour with this hard work and effort. Right now it's one step up from camping with only one toilet and shower combined which we all share so no rose coloured glasses when you think Tuscan Villa, think run down shack and you won't be disappointed.

On the qood side your hosts are easy going the area is great and the natives friendly. Lots of other bonuses too. Work is definitely manual labour and experience is essential. Job will be removing cleaning and repainting doors and shutters. Painting railings and outside walls. Repairing broken cement and laying concrete. Clearing garden and replacing broken gutters. Building a wooden pergola. Knocking through a wall to make a doorway, preparing internal walls for electric cables. We have secured the paid services of a registered Italian plumber and an Italian registered Electrician as per Italian law. The rest will be done by exchange workers like yourself. In return there will be full bed and board including excellent food and wine. There will be plenty of free time to explore the magnificent rivers (fishing allowed) and chestnut forests surrounding the village. Or take day trips to Florence, Pisa, Parma, Bologna and Lucca. A chance for a wonderful memorable Tuscan experience from a (for now) very shabby abode