A 16th-Century Monastery Turned Hotel in Abruzzo, Italy

The story starts in 2000 when i fratelli Romiti took over the trattoria started by their father in a nearby town. Wanting to expand in terms of space and the hospitality component, they purchased Casadonna in 2007 and moved Reale there in 2011. The hotel is the most recent addition. Per De Carlo, the project was driven by “the balance of materials: recovered wood, iron, glass, ancient stone, old ceramics, linen, and boiled wood.” Reused marble sliced from salvaged blocks paves the entrance, restaurant, fireplace room, and tearoom. Walls are finished with cocciopesto, a compound of plaster and crushed brick. Glass, newly framed in thin iron profiles, abounds, while original wood planks form ceilings. Accenting the all-white envelope are colorful artworks and photography by the likes of Mario Giacomelli, Joseph Kosuth, and Ettore Spalletti.

The ground level is devoted to the restaurant, the kitchen, an indoor-outdoor event room created by a garden enclosure, and Niko Romito’s laboratory. The second story, wrapping a terrace, houses reception plus guest accommodations. Floor three contains a breakfast room, lounge, shop, and winery. The remaining suites occupy the topmost floor. Below-grade, overtaking erstwhile stables, is Reale’s 10,000-bottle wine cache. (The bilevel culinary institute is in a separate structure.)
Each of the six rooms and four suites is unique, featuring custom furnishings—comprising a collection the collaborators market under the label Imperfetto—complemented with classics by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Antonio Citterio, Arne Jacobsen, Vico Magistretti, Gio Ponti, and Eero Saarinen, most acquired by the proprietors.