Hauser & Wirth Opens Swiss Alps Hotel
Global art gallery Hauser & Wirth has reimagined a 16th-century guesthouse in the Swiss Alps, opening it as the Chesa Marchetta hotel. The property, once frequented by artists, now combines its historic architecture with a collection of contemporary art and design.
- The hotel is owned by Iwan and Manuela Wirth, the co-founders of the Hauser & Wirth gallery, through their hospitality company, Artfarm. This is Artfarm's second hotel, following The Fife Arms in Braemar, Scotland. - The 13-room hotel and its 46-cover restaurant underwent a four-year restoration led by architect Luis Laplace. Laplace has previously designed several spaces for Hauser & Wirth, including galleries in Paris and Menorca. - The restaurant is led by chef Davide Degiovanni, who previously worked under Gordon Ramsay in London. The menu focuses on local produce from the Engadin valley and Northern Italy. - The village of Sils Maria has a long history of attracting artists and thinkers, including Friedrich Nietzsche, Marcel Proust, Alberto Giacometti, and Marc Chagall. The original guesthouse was frequented by artists like Gerhard Richter and Jean-Michel Basquiat. - The hotel's art collection includes works by Louise Bourgeois, Philip Guston, Alberto Giacometti, Nicolas Party, and Jason Rhoades. - Special interior details include window embroideries made by Benedictine nuns from the nearby Kloster St. Johann in Müstair and soft furnishings from one of the last handweaving mills in Switzerland. - The property holds personal significance for Iwan Wirth, who visited the village as a child with his father. The original restaurant was also the location of his first date with Manuela Wirth. - The renovation preserved historic architectural elements like the traditional sgraffito etchings on the facade and incorporated local materials such as Soglio granite and reclaimed spruce wood.
