The Masi Brother's Winery

The Masi Brother's Winery. . In many ways the Masi family represents the fulfillment of the American Dream for the millions of immigrants who came to the country in the early decades of this century. Jennie Cassara married Sebastian Masi in 1937, fifteen years after Jennie and her family had come to Los Angeles via Ellis Island, and years after Sebastian had come to California to work with his older brother Matteo. From the same very small town in Sicily, Piana de Greci, the couple's union resembled that of a traditional European relationship in which gender roles were rigidly defined and accepted. Moving to the Cucamonga valley after their marriage, the Masi couple soon saved enough to purchase the former Lafourcade store on the southwest corner of Route 66 (Foothill Boulevard) and Rochester Avenue. Jennie managed the store for years as she tended to the couple's two children, Matteo ("Jack") and Constance. Sebastian and brother Matteo had already acquired ten acres south of Foothill Boulevard on the east side of Rochester Avenue property. During the early war years, enjoying much success, Masi built a freestanding winery buiding facing Foothill Boulevard. This building has been preserved and incorporated into Masi Plaza, a multi-use commercial project developed by Jack Masi and Michael Scandiffio, located at the southwest corner of Foothill Boulevard and Rochester Avenue., Until his death in 1982, Sebastian played an important role in the leadership of the small but thriving Italian vintners community in this part of eastern Cucamonga/western Etiwanda historically known as Rochester. He was instrumental in the founding of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Etiwanda, as was a long-time member of the Ontario Elks Lodge, played a key role in establishing a lodge in Cucamonga.