Real Life in the Tuscan Sun There's the love story, the best-selling book, a major motion picture and a line of house wares and furniture... but it all started with the house.
Frances and Ed Mayes, two English professors from San Francisco State University, restored a 400-year-old Tuscan farm house, immersing themselves in the local Cortona, Italy culture. The experience became the basis for Frances' bestselling memoir, Under the Tuscan Sun.
The book became a movie and made this town of 22,000 a major draw for tourists and expatriates alike. Recently, Frances Mays captured the essence of "Bella Tuscany"--the good life--by originating an annual Tuscan Sun Music and Arts Festival.
