The feudal castle of Salabue with the domain of Tomarengo passed from hand to hand from the XIV through the XVII century, between the Natta, Fassati, Tizzoni and Nuvoloni families, all bestowed with lordship. The castle itself was always partitioned in two distinct properties. At the end of the XVI century, the Nuvoloni housed the brothers Tabachetti of the renowned artist family who decorated the nearby Sanctuary of Crea.

During the XVII century the feudal domain was elevated into a county and the Gonzaga conferred it to Carlo Francesco Cozio, lord of Montiglio and Terruggia, Casalese patrician, who became count of Salabue in 1665. The Cozio family united the castle into one property unit and transformed the fortification into a country residence filling up the moat the level of which then was risen with progressive arches, to be redesigned as the present day drive way alley. The towers were lowered to level the main structure. The Cozio of Salabue resided here for five generations.

Two conspicuous personalities of the Cozio family were Carlo Francesco, enfeoffened in 1725, who issued a land registery which is still held at the Ponzano municipality, and in 1766 he published works on chess "Il giuoco degli scacchi, ossia nuova idea di attachi, difese e partiti" in two volumes (see web). Himself a virtuous violonist, his musical passion passed on to his son Ignazio Alessandro, enfeoffened in 1780, a world famous collector of string instruments (Stradivary and others) and author of the "Saggio critico sulla liuteria cremonese", he was also member of the royal "Deputazione di Storia Patria" and president of the Senate in Casale. He donated the Monferrato archives which he had gathered during the French occupation to the State Archives at Turin where they are open to the public to this day.

The sister of Ignazio Alessandro, Paola, was married in 1778 to Silvio Davico count of Quittengo, of Fossano. The grandson, Pietro Giovenale Davico di Quittengo, heir of the Cozio family then extinct, was infeuded by King Carlo Alberto with the county of Salabue on 3rd August 1841 and was the last count of Salabue.

The successive generation of the counts Davico sold the property to a family Guazzoni-Bezzi who held it until 1935 when the count and countess Corrado and Elena Davico di Quittengo bought it back for the family. The castle underwent restauration and further improvements to meet modern standards of comfort as country residence, with the help of the architect Gianni Ricci and decorators and painters Vittorio Accornero and Alfredo Parachini. The interiour was redesigned and decorated inside and outside, an Italian garden was created and a loggia to enhance and lighten the eastern wing. Today the count Davico family lives at Salabue permanently and manages the vineyard, the forest and the B&B guest house.

Note: An interesting article on Castello di Salabue appeared in The World of Interiors March 2004, also features in a book entitled Well-Worn Interior (Forster&Whittaker).