Villetta Sampaguita is the home of Rina Vargas and Tim Brewer.

Tim was originally from Africa (South Africa & Kenya) and has lived all over the world including California where he planted his first vineyard before moving to Asia in 1984 (Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia), pioneering setting up satellite-television stations, then marketing satellites (Asiasat, Rimsat, GIS Coupon) and related business ventures, eventually ending his satellite career in Moscow as consultant for Intersputnik.

Rina was originally from Bicol in the Philippines (renown for its beautiful ladies!), we met in Manila and started a diving resort with bar and restaurant on a motor yacht anchored off Boracay Island, one of the world's premiere paradise beach locations.

In 1996 we moved to London from Moscow and lived in Hampstead and Totteridge. Three years later Tim's work moved him in to Taiwan, and after spending a a year in Taipei, we decided to change our lives and move to Northern Italy to find a vineyard property which we could convert into a small hotel.

Why Italy? We had friends in Piedmont and when we visited we fell in love with the ambience, the climate, the lifestyle and the perfect location, not to mention some of the best wines and foods in the world.

We arrived on Easter of 2001, and after three months we found the ideal place for us to convert into our dream. We purchased a farm property with a big farmhouse near to Asti which we converted into an agriturismo farm-stay bed and breakfast - Villa Sampaguita.

Sampaguita (sambac jasmine) is the national flower of the Philippines, and we have planted one of these vines to remind us of Asia.

Fast forward 18 years of wonderful experiences, many guests from all over the world who became our friends, many wine harvests and we find ourselves getting older and in need of a smaller and less demanding place to stay.

Another year of searching for another house and waiting for the sale of Villa Sampaguita to be finalised; in August 2019 we moved to the beautiful village of San Pietro, where we started Villetta Sampaguita for guests who want to spend time in Piedmont and for Rina to focus on her cooking.

Maybe its time for Tim to write his autobiography and Rina to perfect her cooking app.

Site Design by Erin Brewer