About Casa Ambrogina

A house with
a hundred years
of story.

Built in 1922. Restored with reclaimed materials. Opened with care to guests who value what it is — an authentic Piemontese home in a UNESCO vineyard landscape.

"Gli unici ad aver colto l'essenza di questa casa siamo stati noi — the only ones to have truly grasped the essence of this house were us."

Giovanni Falco · La Casa sui Campi, N.2 · Febbraio 2000

1922 Year built

UNESCO Vineyard landscape

Nizza DOCG wine region

5 Bedrooms

Casa Ambrogina, 1922 — the original inhabitants

Built 1922 · Restored 1992–1999

Seven years of work.
A century of character.

This photograph was taken in 1922, the year the house was built. When the Falco family found it in 1992, it had been abandoned for two decades. No indoor bathroom. A roof that had forgotten its purpose. A farmhouse that had given up.

They spent seven years restoring it on weekends. The portico was built brick by brick from reclaimed farmhouse demolitions. The kitchen made by hand in larch wood with ceramic inlays. The old stable became the dining room — its vaulted ceiling intact, the original stone feeding trough repositioned as a feature rather than erased.

The magazine that featured the finished house — La Casa sui Campi, February 2000 — called it Fedele alla Tradizione — faithful to tradition. The title still holds.

Your Hosts

Nico &
Cheong Chye

We bought Casa Ambrogina in 2023 from the Falco family, who had restored it painstakingly from near ruin over seven years. The bones were extraordinary. What we inherited couldn't be manufactured.

Since then we've made it our own — adding the pool, designing the garden layout, enhancing the connectivity between rooms, and opening up the bedroom configurations to work better for larger groups. We both live in Singapore, and Casa Ambrogina is our second home — the place we come to as often as we can, and plan to retire to full-time in the years ahead.

While we're away, we open it to guests who want something genuine. A real Piemontese home in a wine region we love, managed closely and personally from the moment you enquire.

— Nico & Cheong Chye

Book Direct → The House

Nico & Cheong Chye at Casa Ambrogina

The house today

The garden

A Century of History

How the house
got here

1922

Built in the vineyards

Casa Ambrogina is constructed as a working Piemontese farmhouse, surrounded by the Barbera vineyards that have defined this landscape for centuries.

Mid-century

A working farm

For decades the house operates as a working agricultural property. The stable, the vaulted cellars, the land — all in use. Then, gradually, abandoned. By the time the 1980s arrive, the house has been empty for years.

1992

The Falco family

The Falco family purchase the house despite two decades of abandonment — a missing bathroom, a roof in serious decline, and a farmhouse that had given up. They see what it could become.

1992–1999

Seven years of Saturdays

The house is restored incrementally over seven years. The portico is built brick by brick from reclaimed farmhouse demolitions. The kitchen is made by hand in larch with ceramic inlays. The old stable becomes the dining room — its vaulted ceiling kept, the stone feeding trough repositioned rather than removed. In February 2000, La Casa sui Campi publishes the finished house under the title Fedele alla Tradizione — Faithful to Tradition.

2014

Nizza DOCG established

The vineyards surrounding Casa Ambrogina receive Italy's highest Barbera designation. The landscape the house has always sat within is formally recognised as exceptional.

2023

Nico and Cheong Chye

Nico and Cheong Chye purchase Casa Ambrogina from the Falco family. Based in Singapore, they set about adding the pool, designing the garden layout, and preparing the house to share with guests — while keeping everything that made it worth buying in the first place.

Now

A home shared

While they are in Singapore, Nico and Cheong Chye open Casa Ambrogina to guests who value what it is — an authentic Piemontese home in a UNESCO vineyard landscape. Managed with care, and with a very long view.

What We Stand For

Five things that
define the house

Authenticity

Original elements preserved. No artificial staging. The house looks the way it does because it has been lived in honestly for a century.

Wine Culture

Nizza DOCG focus. Barbera centric. Producer driven. We want guests to leave knowing what Monferrato wine actually is.

Slow Living

Long lunches. Seasonal produce. Outdoor living. The kind of time that feels different from ordinary time.

Regional Identity

Monferrato, not Tuscany. Hazelnuts, tajarin, truffles, Barbera. Less touristic, more local, more genuinely itself.

Personal Hosting

Direct communication. Thoughtful guidance. We are reachable before, during, and after your stay.

A Long Term Project

Casa Ambrogina is not designed for maximum turnover. It is a heritage family asset and a cultural bridge to a region we love deeply.

As Featured In

"Quando il sole illumina le tinte della dolce campagna tutt'intorno, il luogo è piacevolissimo, e la casa, oggi riportata faticosamente a nuova vita, risalta nel circondario, diversa com'è da tutte le altre."

"When the sun illuminates the tones of the gentle countryside all around, the place is wonderful, and the house — painstakingly brought back to life — stands out in the landscape, different from all the others."

Elena Tibiletti · Fedele alla Tradizione · La Casa sui Campi, N.2 · Febbraio 2000

A house witha hundred yearsof story.

Seven years of work.A century of character.

Nico &Cheong Chye

How the housegot here