Contract: the new Interno Marche hotel is an anthology of design

28 March 2024

The boutique hotel that will open in Tolentino is called Interno Marche: 30 rooms, lounge bar and spa in a liberty villa converted to hospitality and furnished with design icons.

There is a thread that links some of the most prestigious brands in Italian design and beyond: Poltrona Frau, Cassina, Cappellini, Zanotta, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna are all united by the strong presence, in their history, of the figure of Franco Moschini, an entrepreneur from the Marche which since the 1960s, through its holding Moschini S.p.a. has been a constant presence in these companies.

To tell the story of his work, there could be no better way than an architectural project that would share with the public a review of the design icons of the last 60 years born thanks to his entrepreneurial vision. This is how Interno Marche was born, a hotel housed in the late liberty villa of Tolentino, in the upper Macerata area, which for 60 years was the headquarters first of Nazareno Gabrielli and then, from 1962, also of Poltrona Frau.

It is a project of hospitality and design culture, since, in addition to the interesting architectural recovery of this ancient residence, they chose to tell the story of the business that it has hosted over the decades.

To do so, the story was entrusted to a series of furnishings designed over the years by designers like Michele De Lucchi, Gae Aulenti, Vico Magistretti, Giò Ponti, Achille Castiglioni, Marc Newson, Nendo. There are over 400 pieces chosen starting from careful philological research in which the interiors and furnishings were in dialogue and described, in unison, a story of Italian beauty and entrepreneurship. 3,600 square meters with 25 rooms plus 5 suites designed for long stays, in addition to the lounge bar, spa and restaurant. The rooms are all different, each named after a designer from whom the style for furnishing was taken by identifying 5 architectural and design movements.

A large house museum project hosted in the Villa Gabrielli of which the frescoes have been recovered on the one hand and on the other the spaces once dedicated to industry have been reconverted, with a careful recovery intervention. The original tanning tanks, a tale of the company’s ancient tradition, have been integrated and combined with the design pieces. And the definition of design experience hotel is perfect, to underline the experience of immersion in the history of design of the lucky hotel guests.

To get an idea of the context, just think that in the room dedicated to Luigi Massoni the original frescoes coexist with the iconic Lullaby bed while in the room dedicated to Roberto Lazzeroni you sleep on the Volare Bed and relax on the Woodline lounge chair in the room that traces the work of Marco Zanuso. Here, from the window you can see the Politeama cultural center, whose restoration promoted and supported by the Franco Moschini Foundation is signed by Michele De Lucchi.

It is not surprising that thinking about and realizing all this was a long and intense job, lasting three years, which involved 4 strategic consultants, 7 architects, 14 engineers, 2 restorers, 4 geologists and 2 agronomists. But also 4 3D designers, 1 light and 3 interior designers, 30 companies – almost all local, as desired by Franco Moschini – and more than 70 supplier companies for a total of over 2,000 professionals who contributed to creating a project not only of hospitality but also of culture.

Images by Serena Eller.

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