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An update on the castle's history
Cesare Puccioni, January 24, 2009
Part II
On the 28th February 1946 the history of Cabbiavoli by Don Socrate Isolani ends, but with some errors. Cabbiavoli was sold by Bruno Borgassi, not to Mario Puccioni, but it was acquired under the name of my mother Maria Avanzati Bernardi.
My father knew Cabbiavoli well, having passed a part of his childhood here. He was born at Castelfiorentino on October 14th 1902 , son of Cesare Puccioni and Alice Brandini.
The Puccioni were a family that had made its fortune in the second half of the 19th Century, first of all as merchants of cereals and later as industrialists. My great grandfather Luigi, the father of my grandfather Cesare, built in 1888 at Apparita' at a few kilometres to the north of Castelfiorentino, a sulphuric acid and chemical fertilizer factory. In fact the fortune of the family was made by my grandfather Cesare, an intelligent strong-willed person who, although only educated to elementary level, succeeded single handedly in creating the factory at Apparita' and in operating it in a distinguished manner.
Cesare Puccioni married Alice Brandini, a marriage that appeared to be little approved of by the wife's family. The Brandini were one of the prime families of Castelfiorentino, owners of a fine house in the city, various farms and a bank. Aristocrats since many generations, they were probably not happy that their eldest daughter married a man, certainly gifted, but little educated and definitely not of their social standing. The name of Alice was given her by her mother Ester Gotti Pellegrini, wife of Leopoldo Brandini, in memory of her little sister who died at the age of 15 and was buried, as Isolani writes, in the Chapel of Cabbiavoli, by the side of her father Antonio Casimiro. Ester Gotti Pellegrini was the last of this family, and therefore brought the property of Cabbiavoli into the Brandini patrimony,
As I recall, my father Mario knew Cabbiavoli well, having passed his summer holidays as a child in that Villa, which belonged to his maternal grandmother. Furthermore, several of his Brandini uncles were more or less of the same age, since his grandmother Ester had 9 children, of which his mother Alice was the first. I do not think I am mistaken if I say that my father, who was certainly not a lover of the countryside, bought Cabbiavoli because it reminded him of his childhood and I would not exclude also out of a sense of spite for his maternal family.
My father, in 1947, immediately undertook major works that consisted in the restoration of the building, but unfortunately also in the demolition of certain parts of the old hamlet, such as the farm and the barns. The Villa took on thereby its modern aspect, certainly more beautiful and ostentatious, but it lost its charm as a fortified rural hamlet.
Notable developments in agriculture were made by my mother with the construction of a new farm with modern cellars and the planting of new vines and olive groves, turning it into a model farm.
In 1967 there was acquired by the Giachetti family, an estate of roughly 25 acres, originally sold out of necessity by the Brandini's, thereby recreating the entire holding, to which were later added other acquisitions, consolidating the property, among which, at the end, the house of Santa Maria Spazzavento, bringing the farm up to its present 115 acres with 8 farmhouses.
In 1996, with the intention of giving a purpose to the various farm buildings that the property owned but by now were uninhabited, unused and beginning to deteriorate and to collapse, since the farm workers had abandoned them, it was decided to restructure them for the purpose of "agriturismo" (Farm holidays).
The success brought by this initiative, but perhaps more out of love for this place, convinced us to restructure and bring up to date the Castle of Cabbiavoli, after more than 50 years since the alterations made my father. The structure has kept its original sub divisions, but works of consolidation were carried out.
To all these lengthy and patient labours, my wife Cecilia dedicated herself, giving her time and care and to whom we owe the final result.
The management is done directly by my family, with my wife Cecilia and my daughter Ginevra trying to give to our guests the sensation of being at home and among friends.
We can claim that we have done a good job, now that we are in the third year of operation, and we have bestowed upon our guests, some of whom are especially well known, such us the godmother Julia Roberts, a satisfaction and a love for this place that persuades them to return and became friends of ours, much to our great delight.
