Chesa Marchetta: Hauser & Wirth’s new Swiss hotel is their most personal yet

Here Italy and Finland have entered into a union and all the silvery tones of nature seem to have made their home,” wrote the great philosopher Nietzsche of the little Alpine Swiss town, Sils Maria, in the Engadine Valley. Weather sensitive, with severe health issues, he thrived amid the contrasting bright warm sunshine, blue skies and radiant light of Italy against the crisp cool air, alpine snow and stark northern freshness of Finland.He returned time and time again, from 1881 onwards, renting a room in a modest house, now a museum dedicated to his life. While here, he walked constantly around its lake, Lake Silvaplana, notebook in hand. He said it helped him to think, evidenced by some of his most important philosophical concepts being born here.A testament to the way Sils Maria has remained a secret, carefully guarded by those in the know, is that it remains unchanged since the days of Nietzsche. The surrounding dramatic landscapes that inspired writers such as Thomas Mann and Hermann Hesse and which were captured by many artists including Marc Chagall and Alberto Giacometti are still recognisable. The intervening centuries have not intruded. Romansh is still the main language for its 600 inhabitants.The tiny main street threads its way through the valley, past the bluer-than-blue Lake Silvaplana, which flanks the town, towards mountains that close in on the horizon in every direction. Houses in the typical Engadine vernacular line the street, comprising massive stone walls, lime-plastered, with a hayloft, quarters for the animals and humans all under one vast stone roof. Windows are small, deep and funnel-shaped, to encourage that special crystalline light to penetrate the thick walls. Surrounding them are decorative sgraffito; geometric or floral patterns or sometimes even written proverbs, scratched into the plaster before it dries, revealing a darker underneath. Some of the sgraffito goes back centuries.Summer at Chesa Marchetta Chesa MarchettaIn the centre of Sils Maria stands one such house, which used to be the destination of most visitors. Dating back to the 15th century with geometric sgraffito on its corners and above its window frames, it was an acclaimed inn run by the Godly family and frequented by many artists including Gerhard Richter and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Much loved by its very loyal following, it seemed obvious to one of them, Iwan Wirth, who had spent many childhood holidays there, that he should bring Manuela, someone special he had met, to experience it in the early 1990s. “It was our first date and everything about it was wonderful”, Manuela recalls. She fell in love with the inn, with Sils Maria and with Iwan, whom she subsequently married.So, it was a natural fit that when the Godly family — who had owned and run the inn since 1947 — decided to put it up for sale in 2019, it was snapped up by Iwan and Manuela. Now Swiss gallerists, they had remained frequent visitors and already had Artfarm, the international hospitality group, with The Fife Arms in Braemar under their belt. “This is our most personal project yet,” Iwan explains. “When the chance came to preserve the legacy of the Godly family who ran it for half a century, and all the artists who came here, we didn’t hesitate. We had to keep the story going.”In an “everything has to change for things to remain the same” way, they spent four years restoring this farmhouse and an adjoining one with architect Luis Laplace. The result, when the doors swung open earlier this year, was Chesa Marchetta, a 13-room hotel, with an adjoining three-bedroom house to rent, an enticing restaurant and an impressive art collection that includes work from generations of the artists who also fell in love with the town. Original rooms are clad in Swiss stone pine wood, with parquet flooring and panelled walls; others have murals etched into the whitewashed walls as a nod to the sgraffito on the exterior. Several rooms are hung with geometric drawings channelling spiritual and healing energies by visionary Swiss healer and artist Emma Kunz. Rooms are cosy with handmade rugs on beds, books about the Engadine to browse through and a pleasing simplicity that perfectly fits the little inn. Step into the bar, previously an old hay barn, still with its original struts and beams and you will find Louise Bourgeois’s bronze sculpture Spider II as well as an aperitivo menu offering platters of speck and bresaola, Valposchiavo lamb salamino or goat’s cheese and pollen bruschettine. But downstairs in the restaurant, where flagstone floors are topped by wooden tables and cow bells hang on a beam, a more serious menu prevails.Chesa Marchetta’s restaurant and cheese tableChesa MarchettaJust like the Godlys before him, chef Davide Degiovanni’s seasonal menu is inspired by northern Italian and Swiss mountain traditions. Working with the best local producers across the Engadine and neighbouring valleys, his dishes are uncomplicated, allowing the ingredients to speak for themselves. Best was his signature gnocchi, with courgette flowers and aged goat’s ricotta (his favourite dish and the first thing he cooked as a child with his grandmother), with its milk and cream from neighbouring Val Fex, the red potatoes grown in Sils Maria itself.As I savoured every mouthful, I looked around the room at the rough walls covered with art — Alberto Giacometti’s L’Atelier de Stampa: Tête de Diego sur Socle and Philip Guston’s Stone Wall. I sipped my sauvignon blanc from Ticino and thought how this worthy successor to the Godlys’ inn will bring those who know to immerse themselves in this tiny cultural corner of Switzerland.And I found myself remembering Nietszche’s words about this town. “Here I feel better than anywhere on Earth.”