The present-day owners of the former "Cascina Buffetto" or "Cascina Büfet" acquired the "La Casa in Collina" estate outside San Damiano d'Asti from two brothers whose father, Giovanni Volpe, known as "Il Nonno", had originally purchased the estate. Il Nonno, whose family still lives in San Damiano d'Asti, showed daring and foresight when he bought the property on July 14, 1919, during the chaotic times following World War I. At the time, the eldest of his six sons, Sebastiano, was still a prisoner of war and the youngest, Tino, was only four years old. The estate had been owned by the family Felice Gherzi Paruzzo, attorneys in Turin.
Volpe, a religious man, made a vow to build a small chapel as soon as he had paid off the estate. He then rounded off the estate to 42 "giornate" (about 17 hectares). The chapel, built in 1927 to the left of the little road that leads to Casa Buffetto, was decorated with paintings of saints and motifs by the painter Arri Paolo of Asti. The facial features of the Volpe children were depicted in the saints portrayed. Unfortunately, on the rainy night of April 30 th to May 1 st 1998, unknown persons stole these paintings.

Not only was il Nonno Giovanni Volpe a courageous and religious man, he was also an entrepreneur during the difficult times of the Great Depression. In addition to a horse to draw the carriage, he also owned two oxen, eight cows and some calves, seven sheep and three goats. From flax he planted himself, he made rope. Serving as a further source of income was silk worm farming which he undertook in what is today the Junior Suite, the so-called "Stöckli's room".
The little mulberry-plane tree pergola in the garden today recalls the fact that the mulberry tree was still very much native to Piedmont back then. We had the pleasure of getting to know personally two of the six sons of il Nonno, Sebastiano and Guglielmo, and also some grandchildren and great grandchildren. Rosina - "the little girl of the grapes" - is the name sake of Guglielmo's wife.

It was on July 31, 1994, exactly 75 years later, that the winegrowing estate Cascina Buffetto was purchased by us, the Luetold-Nussbaumer family, and was remodelled, in an exciting, six-year period, into today's Locanda Casa Buffetto. Almost everything still recalls today the former property. The remodelling required a lot of energy, endurance, patience and material expense since there were many challenging obstacles to overcome. But we do not want to go into that since the result made all the work worthwhile in every respect. Today the aristocratic manor Casa Buffetto can be admired in its old splendour, and thanks to its unpretentious, cloister-like character, it has become an historical showpiece and a little paradise in the heart of the Piedmont.