Casa Di Vite Brings New Life to Old Funeral Home

Brittany and Susan Blaser – Photo by S. Jason Cole

Inspired by the Italian experience while studying abroad, Brittany and her mother Susan Blaser are undertaking a new adventure together, and are calling it “Casa Di Vite”, Italian for Vine House. The international wine bar cafe is set to open in the newly renovated and finished stone building on the corner of Thompson Ave. and Spring Street in the downtown. Locals know it as the old Hope-Gowing Funeral Home, behind the current Bross and Spidle Funeral Home.

Living in Lawson, Susan would get her hair cut at Betty Boops in downtown Excelsior, often driving past the building on her way. When she saw it was for sale, she felt an immediate love for the property. When it was purchased by former local business owners for a roastery, she thought she had missed her opportunity, but then she heard it was for sale again. When she told the owners what she wanted to do with the space, they were happy to sell it to her. This was in 2019, just before the virus set in and became what Susan says was the “domino effect,” referring to the many barriers that the construction industry has experienced the past two years.

Despite these challenges, that didn’t stop Susan from moving forward in making progress on the space. She purchased chandeliers from a lighting store while on a family vacation in New Orleans. When Fishing River Market closed, she was able to buy furniture and other elegant pieces that have given the space new life.

When the building was purchased everything was down to the studs, with only planks of wood laid across the floor of the upstairs. It was important to Susan to save the historical integrity of the space, having her husband reuse the old pocket doors to be hung on rollers and used again in the viewing room. The upstairs space and the east wing of the lower level have been renovated to be gorgeous wedding venue spaces, intended for weddings of 40 people or less.

With a new twist on wine, Casa Di Vite will have a focus on international wines, planning to feature different countries and their signature wines each month. In addition to the tastings, customers will also enjoy a charcuterie board that will complement the wine of the month. They hope to eventually be able to sell bottles but will be doing tastings to start.

Brittany says that she would not have been able to do the project without her mom’s help. She says, “Mom’s definitely been the one that’s pushed through and really gotten us to where we are with this. It was a very large project that I don’t think we quite understood what we were getting into when we started.”

Casa Di Vite sign and shadow — Photo by Kevin Morgan

When they aren’t selling wine, Brittany has worked full time at Children’s Mercy in Emergency Management and Susan is actually the first woman lineman in the state of Missouri. She teaches a lineman program three days a week for the Metropolitan Community College and this past October was inducted into the International Lineman’s Hall of Fame.

Casa Di Vite will be open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays from 5:00pm to 9:00pm and Saturdays from 10:00am to 9:00pm. They are only waiting now to receive their liquor license to fully start.