Chesa Marchetta: Artfarm's Art-Led Transformation of a Historic Alpine Guesthouse in Sils Maria

Words by Yatzer

3 February 2026

Chesa Marchetta: Artfarm's Art-Led Transformation of a Historic Alpine Guesthouse in Sils Maria

Words by Yatzer

3 February 2026

Sils Maria, Switzerland

Unlike most hospitality brands that expand by replicating a recognisable formula across geographies, Artfarm works in the opposite direction, with each project conceived as a singular response to an environment. Founded by Swiss gallerists Iwan and Manuela Wirth over a decade ago, the group has developed a practice that treats hospitality as a form of cultural stewardship, where architecture, food and art are woven into the everyday life of a location rather than imposed upon it. That exact philosophy has found particularly fertile ground in Sils Maria with the opening of Chesa Marchetta, a boutique 13-room hotel and restaurant.

Formerly a much-loved local guesthouse and restaurant run by the Godly family since 1947, Chesa Marchetta has hosted generations of artists passing through the Engadin valley, among them Gerhard Richter and Jean-Michel Basquiat, drawn as much by the house’s atmosphere as by the region’s alpine scenery and intellectual pull—for over a century, Sils Maria has been a magnet for artists, writers and philosophers, from Friedrich Nietzsche and Thomas Mann to Alberto Giacometti and Marc Chagall. Rather than rewriting that history, Artfarm’s intervention builds directly upon it, allowing the house’s cultural memory and vernacular soul to guide its future.

A server moves through the dining room wearing a simple white T-shirt embroidered with “Chesa Marchetta, Est. 1947,” subtly linking past and present. In the foreground, a wheel of alpine cheese and rustic bread underscore the restaurant’s ingredient-led ethos and its unpretentious, deeply local approach to hospitality.

Photography by Dave Watts.

A secluded dining nook framed by rough stone walls and aged timber panelling captures the intimate scale of Chesa Marchetta’s restaurant. Hand-carved alpine chairs, a built-in wooden bench, and candlelit table settings create a warm, ritualistic atmosphere, where vernacular craftsmanship and restrained art placement blur the line between dining room and lived-in alpine interior.

Photography by Dave Watts.

A cluster of whitewashed Engadin houses with green shutters situates Chesa Marchetta within the historic fabric of Sils Maria. Traditional sgraffito façades and pitched stone roofs sit against a dramatic alpine backdrop, underscoring the village’s architectural continuity and its long-standing dialogue between built form, landscape, and light. — Photography by Dave Watts.

The main dining room unfolds as a cavernous yet intimate alpine interior, defined by rough stone walls, heavy timber beams, and broad plank floors. Leather-strapped cowbells suspended overhead form a sculptural ceiling installation, while candlelight, traditional chairs, and discreet artworks create a gallery-like atmosphere rooted in ritual and warmth. — Photography by Dave Watts.

Consisting of four adjoining buildings, the oldest dating back to the 16th century, Chesa Marchetta has undergone a four-year renovation that leans into continuity rather than transformation. Led by Paris-based architectural practice Laplace, the intervention is almost deliberately discreet, allowing the spaces to feel less designed than patiently evolved. Thick stone walls retain their scars, aged carpentry bears the marks of time, while floors creak with the assurance of long use. The result is a sense of continuity, as though the house has simply adjusted its rhythm.

Nowhere is this more palpable than in the restaurant. Cavernous yet intimate, the space is defined by rough stone and plaster walls, massive timber ceiling beams and broad floorboards. Hand-carved traditional Swiss chairs, candlelit candelabras and suspended bundles of dried herbs add to the room’s alpine warmth, while a striking ceiling installation created out of leather-strapped cowbells anchors the space with sculptural force. As with all of Artfarm projects, art is interwoven into the restaurant’s fabric, with landmark works by Alberto Giacometti and Philip Guston sharing wall space with paintings by Wolf Traut and Adriaen van Ostade.

A long communal table anchors the restaurant beneath a dense canopy of suspended leather-strapped cowbells. Rough stone walls, patinated timber, and candlelit table settings create a ritualistic dining atmosphere, where vernacular alpine elements are elevated through careful composition and the quiet presence of framed artworks. — Photography by Dave Watts.

An intimate bedroom vignette places modern comfort alongside historical texture. A framed figurative artwork hangs above the bed, while lime-washed walls and exposed beams retain their imperfections. Blue cushions add a quiet contemporary note, reflecting the hotel’s art-led yet understated design philosophy. — Photography by Dave Watts.

A minimalist presentation of hand-formed gnocchi served in a delicate broth reflects the restaurant’s restrained culinary language. Set against crisp white linen and branded porcelain, the dish highlights texture, seasonality, and precision, echoing Chesa Marchetta’s broader philosophy of simplicity, craftsmanship, and quietly expressive detail.

Photography by Dave Watts.

In the dining room, white tablecloths embroidered with traditional motifs soften the rawness of stone walls and weathered floorboards. Hand-carved wooden chairs, red glassware, and candlelight create an atmosphere of quiet ceremony, while the spatial rhythm encourages lingering and communal exchange.

Photography by Dave Watts.

In the restaurant's kitchen, chefs prepare seasonal ingredients with quiet focus, reinforcing the restaurant’s ingredient-led ethos. Stainless steel worktops and industrial lighting contrast with the human rhythm of hands at work, grounding Chesa Marchetta’s culinary offering in craft, precision, and the everyday rituals of alpine hospitality. — Photography by Dave Watts.

Elsewhere, in the lounge and bar, sculptures by Louise Bourgeois and a vivid landscape by Nicolas Party introduce moments of intensity and colour, accompanied by a trio of chandeliers by Jason Rhoades injecting a charged, mischievous energy. In corridors and communal spaces, artworks appear almost unexpectedly, rewarding slow movement through the house.

In the kitchen, chef Davide Degiovanni builds on the Godly family’s original, ingredient-led ethos, grounding the restaurant firmly in the Engadin landscape. Seasonal produce and close relationships with local suppliers shape a menu defined by unforced generosity, where alpine tradition is gently reworked through a contemporary lens.

Another view of the restaurant reveals its layered textures and lived-in character. Thick timber beams, uneven plaster walls, and timeworn furnishings frame a central cheese table, reinforcing the room’s role as both dining space and social hearth within the historic fabric of Chesa Marchetta. — Photography by Dave Watts.

The thirteen guest rooms are deliberately understated, their rustic alpine character filtered through a quiet, wabi-sabi sensibility. Beamed ceilings, lime-washed walls and hardwood floors form a restrained envelope softened by bouclé upholstery, wool rugs and linen curtains. Earthy creams and sandy tones are punctuated with confident accents of red, green or orange, while traditional Engadin furniture sits comfortably alongside contemporary pieces. As a finishing touch, murals by British-German artist Corin Sands, inspired by the Engadin valley and Giovanni Giacometti's watercolour paintings, lend each room a subtle narrative of its own, deepening the scheme’s fairy-tale undertones.

Reclaiming its place within Sils Maria’s long cultural continuum, Chesa Marchetta has emerged as a social hearth thoughtfully attuned to place where hospitality unfolds as a form of attentive listening: to history, to landscape, and to the many creative lives that have passed through before.