Stelio's court is not and has never been the court of a king: much simplier it was a farmer's court, one of the many courts where the humble daily tasks of agriculture were performed in the company of poultry, rabbits, turkeys, ducks, a horse, a 25 Hp Landini tractor and of the many cows in the cowhouse.
The cows and their milk are the main protagonists in this story and, through a series of events, they take us to what is going on now.
The whole estate, farmhouse included, was bought by Amerigo Coli in the fifties, with the scope of working the land on his own, with the help of Stelio, his son.
Besides working in the fields, they were daily engaged in the cowhouse , where the milk was produced in such large quantities that part of it remained unsold.
This problem was shared by almost all the farmers in the area and that's when Amerigo, a subtle, minded (as the saying goes) and an enterprising man, had a brilliant idea: why not set up a cooperative association of dairy producers with a small shop where the surplus milk of the associated farmers could be sold?
Many farmers in the area welcomed this idea and it came natural to appoint Amerigo Poli President of the cooperative.
A small dairy shop was set up at 138, Via Montanelli and an assistant director was taken on.
Unfortunately, there was a succession of assistants who remained for only short periods, be it for their inadequacy, or because the job was not appealing to them. So the only negative side in Amerigo's idea seemed to be the running of the dairy.
In September 1954 Ivano and Neva Bernini, a young married couple with an eight-year old son, Giacomo, entered Stelio's court riding an old Jso scooter and proposed themselves for the dairy running, after the advice of Renata, a cousin, who was secretary to the cooperative administrator.
Amerigo Coli, his son Stelio, Liliana, the daughter in law and Lucia, the seven-year old granddaughter, gave the first welcome to the Bernini family in the court: it was an eventful day.
Ivano, a former Carabiniere and then night watchman, and Neva, for some time worker at Pontecorvo company, had a previous experience with cooperatives. In fact they had worked at the cooperative of the Casa del Popolo, Campo. There their son Giacomo had been born, and there he had played, as a baby, in the wooden box of Marseille soap cakes under the counter.
Given their experience, the Colis decided to give them the job. With the coming of the Berninis things changed for the best in the dairy shop and in a very short time. After only two years the milk sold daily in there reached 600 kilos: what better proof for the cooperative associates that the Berninis were the right persons for the job?
Unfortunately Amerigo Coli was forced to resign in 1960, due to ill health and after his death none of the farmers felt able to take his place, so it was decided to give over the property of the dairy to Ivano and Neva, as they well deserved it.
The era of the Dairy Producers Cooperative Association was now over. Something new started.
Giacomo and Lucia were grown up, they had first got engaged and in April 1970 they had got married, thus welding firmly the Bernini and Coli families.
On July 6, 1966, Simone Bernini, son to Giacomo and Lucia, was born. After a period devoted to his studies and to his many interests, he has had the idea to set up, with the help of all the people who care for him, this wonderful, characteristic Bed & Breakfast, obviously named Stelio's court.