Interno Marche, the hotel that tells the story of 60 years of design through 400 iconic pieces and 25 designers, will open in Tolentino in June
In the late Art Nouveau villa that for sixty years was the headquarters of leather goods manufacturer Nazareno Gabrielli and, since 1962, also those of Poltrona Frau, Interno Marche will open in June this year. This is a new hospitality project that aims to be a summa and tribute to entrepreneur Franco Moschini, who, through Poltrona Frau and other brands such as Cassina, Cappellini, Zanotta, and Gebrüder Thonet Vienna (of which he is still president), contributed to spreading Italian design and quality in the world.
Interno Marche: the project
The Interno Marche hotel, projected by ORAstudio, stands on an area of 3,600 m2 and includes 25 rooms and five long-stay suites, as well as a lounge bar, bistro restaurant, and spa with gymnasium. The rooms, all different from each other, are inspired by the designers and stylistic movements that have made the history of international design and, more specifically, collaborated with the companies chaired by Franco Moschini throughout his career contributing to their success. Michele De Lucchi, Marc Newson, Gae Aulenti, Vico Magistretti, Giò Ponti, and Achille Castiglioni are just some of the designers represented through settings, lines, prints, and iconic pieces.
Villa Gabrielli: a 20th-century house-museum
Interno Marche is the result of the recovery and transformation of the spaces of Villa Gabrielli, which restored its frescoes, modulated its large twentieth-century factory spaces, integrated the old tanning tanks and put them in dialogue with the works of the greatest Italian and international designers.
The structure is a house-museum that allows its guests to travel among styles and furnishings that have made the history of interior design over the past 60 years. Room after room, object after object, there are more than 400 pieces, including designer and bespoke pieces, with which the hotel narrates atmospheres and authors.
In the room dedicated to Luigi Massoni, guests will be able to lie on the famous Lullaby bed and observe the ceiling frescoes. They will also sleep on the famous Volare Bed in the Lazzeroni room and sit on a Woodline in the room that retraces the work of Marco Zanuso, looking out the window overlooking the Politeama cultural center, restored by Fondazione Franco Moschini and designed by Michele De Lucchi.
The lobby, breakfast room and lounge bar are located in the large 3-aisle hall that used to be the beating heart of the factory’s production. On the other hand, the bistro restaurant, spa and gym are located on the ground floor with entrance from the garden.
Why Interno Marche?
The name, Interno Marche, is a reference to its geographical location – the interior of the Marche region – and to the interior design epitomized by the hotel. Moreover, it also refers to the genius loci of the industrious town of Tolentino animated by great ideological and cultural ferment, capable of attracting, over the centuries, Napoleon Bonaparte, Sixtus V, and Francesco Sforza. It is also where the treaty between France and the Papal States was signed in 1797 as well as a place capable of paying great attention to “tradition, innovation, culture, beauty and creativity” (quote from a Nazareno Gabrielli poster from the early 1900s).
A crucial center for the great industrial history of Poltrona Frau, also housing a dedicated museum inaugurated more than a decade ago, Tolentino also boasts the Miumor (Museum of Humor in Art), the important 14th-century basilica of St. Nicholas, the precious cathedral of St. Catervo, the Rancia Castle and the Devil’s Bridge. Moreover, it is a starting point for the discovery of the territory nestled between the mysterious Sibillini Mountains, the Conero Riviera, perched villages such as Urbisaglia, Elcito, San Ginesio, and the shrines of Macereto and Madonna of Loreto.
Photo: Serena Eller
