Why the name Swiss House?

The structure in which there is the farm house Casa Svizzera (Swiss House) was, between 1800 and the early 900, "the Swiss Hotel", as evidenced by period photos and stories of older people with rooms looking out onto the square.

The unique characteristic that gave the name to this hotel was represented by the

surface of the walls, they were in fact entirely painted in such a manner as to offer a truly spectacular optical illusion. They seemed to be completely constructed from planks obtained from enormous tree trunks and, in addition to the festoons, just remembered a Swiss chalet, you can find an intact example of this kind of homes in the structure that houses the restaurant Villa Contessa Rosa in the estates of Fontanafredda. Unfortunately the costs involved in maintaining such a beautiful fresco were very high and with the advent of the war the painting was lost for ever. We were able to recover a small portion during the restoration and now you can see the fresco on a wall in the bathroom of the purple room.

This house, which through the years has been a home to many of the town’s businesses like the post office and the chemist, has always remained, along with the castle, the heart of the village. Under its balconies you will find the “littorina” (local bus), which was joined by the men who gather to wrangle over the price of the grapes; the “trifulau” (truffle hunters) sneak furtively by with their precious bundle and faithful hounds, while children play with their marbles, throwing them to see who can get theirs closest to the wall. It is in this way that the Germano family has participated in the life of the village, looking down on it benevolently as from the gallery of a theatre.