'There's no better holiday home'

Two years ago, investment banker Ian Lindsay and his wife, Christa, bought a second home and instead of choosing a cottage in the Cotswolds they opted for a converted farmhouse near Monterey in the Berkshires.

The purchase has been a huge success and the couple and their two children, Isabel, five, and Charlotte, four, have made it a real home from home. As soon as the children finish school in July, Christa packs the family's bags and heads for Monterey, where they spend the summer.

Ian arrives for his two-week summer break and other odd weekends when he can make it. Christmas and Easter are also spent there.

Ian explained the attraction: "I work for an American bank so I am often in the States, and the Berkshires is just two hours' drive on the 'Mass Pike' highway from Boston.

"I also grew up in Kent, and although the hills are much higher here in Massachusetts, there is something about the Berkshires that reminds me of the Kent countryside of my youth.

"Also, there is so much to do. There is the Shaker Village at Hancock, numerous theatre and dance festivals and wonderful music at Tanglewood.

"In fact, there can be few other holiday areas in the world that are so rich in culture.

"It is also a very sophisticated community. For example, there are seven sushi restaurants in Great Barrington alone, which is a very small town.

"Finally, there is the weather. The summers are gloriously sunny without the humidity of New York or Boston and in winter we have good skiing just three miles away."

There are also quite a few other British couples living nearby, which the Lindsays say was a surprise when they first arrived.

"We thought we wouldn't meet many other British people," said Ian, "but there are two other second homeowners from England very close, so it seems the English are beginning to discover the area."