History

The Count Gregorio Scati bought "the Quartino" in 1684 from the formerly owners the Counts Avellani. The first complex of the house was built immediately in the years after the acquisition. In 1883 the Count Vittorio Emanuele Scati of Casaleggio carried on the house enlargement according to the plans of Giovanni Ceruti, a famous designer of the period who planned the "Bollente" and the first complex of the Grand Hotel "Nuove Terme" too.

Between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, during the Liberty period, the extension works were finished and the villa achieved the present dimensions and look. The Scati, the only noble family of Acqui origin, received at the Savoia Court, reached the height of magnificence when the marquise Costanza Scati Grimaldi became the lady companion of the queen Maria Adelaide.

In that period several famous personalities, such as Guglielmo Marconi, Silvio Pellico the members of the Savoia family and many aristocrats of the period, were guests in the villa. Among the family members it is fair to remember Vittorio Emanuele Scati (1844 - 1904), an eminent local history scholar of regional repute. As mayor of the village he had many public works done, the most important of which is the roadway section of the Recamo. 

It is rumoured that ancient hidden underground passages link the villa to the overlooking castle of Melazzo (where Henry II Plantagenet, king of England, spent the last years of his life).

When Vincenzo Barbero bought the villa of Marquises Scati, the huge complex was in a state of semi-abandonment. Acquired all the permits in 2000 began the restoration, which lasted almost five years and carried out by the family, because, unfortunately, in 2002, Vincent had failed. The villa has been completely restored.