Mario is the caretaker of Castello del Trebbio near Florence Italy. Mario has been the effective caretaker of the Trebbio Castle since 1952. He lived here by himself, maintaining all the grounds and helping the farmers with the vineyard while the castle sat vacant from 1953 – 1968 under its previous ownership. Mario, in effect, comes with the castle. According to his previous contract, as is tradition, the gamekeeper is not permitted to get married because his sole focus must be on the property. When the current owner's family bought the castle from her mother's estate, Mario petitioned for a new contract, and the family broke tradition and permitted him to get married. Two weeks later he and his girlfriend were married, and nine months after that he became a father. Mario is 82 years old (as of 2009), and still wears his uniform to the castle, where he works (although technically retired) seven days a week, as he always has; you can find him easily – he’s dressed in a green felt hat with a pheasant feather, matching green overalls and handmade leather boots with handmade half-chaps overtop. He gets around without any help, although he speaks in a very soft whisper. I will say that when I visited Castello del Trebbio in 2008 on a wine tour, he did manage to spill wine on my daughters white sweater. But considering his history I will forgive him.
The history of Castello del Trebbio is very interesting. If you are interested in this history I would recommend reading "April Blood" by Lauro Martines.