Owners: Philippe and Antonie Bertherat-Kioes
Interior design: Antonie Bertherat-Kioes with Jacopo Venerosi Pesciolini
Landscape design: Luciano Giubbilei
Staircase and bench: custom designed by Antonie Bertherat-Kioes
Furnishings and lightings: on design by Antonie Bertherat-Kioes; Servomuto, Elite, Stilnovo, chairs by Ico Parisi from the 50s; Committee Chairs by Pierre Jeanneret
Fabrics: Dedar, Chiarastella Cattana, Pierre Frey
Photos: Alessandro Moggi
The name, Casa Newton, is deliberate: this charming guesthouse in the heart of the Val d’Orcia is genuinely connected to the man who turned a falling apple into a groundbreaking scientific revelation.
Built in the mid-1800s by Gervasio Newton and his siblings, distant relatives of Isaac Newton, the villa was acquired about fifteen years ago by Philippe and Antonie Bertherat-Kioes. This husband and wife team, with Antonie as an architect and interior decorator, patiently restored and reimagined the villa, dressing it in color and transforming it with the help of architect Jacopo Venerosi Pesciolini and landscape designer Luciano Giubbilei. The result is a boutique hotel that embodies understated luxury, design, and the art of slow living.
The hotel features only eleven rooms, each distinct and named after a member of the Newton family, in homage to its roots. The staircase has been reconceived as a helicoidal structure connecting the villa’s three floors, which house several rooms and suites, the sitting room, a library, and the hotel’s only television.
Another room is accessible from the stone terrace, while others are located in the garden, bathed in springtime blossoms. On the ground floor, after the reception, a lounge bar with a fireplace invites you in like a warm, intimate alcove with a hint of pop, featuring colorful graphic terracotta floors, velvet sofas, and the original exposed beam ceiling. The project’s charm lies in the blend of the new and the old.
Thick, rustic walls are painted in exterior red and interior cream to showcase various design objects. These include vintage floral or optical wallpapers by Dedar, fabrics by Pierre Frey and Chiarastella Catana, bespoke furniture designed by the owner, and paired with mid-century and contemporary pieces. Among them are 1970s sconces, Hans-Agne Jakobsson chandeliers, Servomuto lighting fixtures, and Gio Ponti sofas, as well as Josef Frank curtains
Artworks by luminaries such as Fontana, Carla Accardi, Giosetta Fioroni, Ed Ruscha, and Joseph Kosuth are also featured, while the garden chapel has been adorned with colorful murals by Swiss artist Nicolas Party. A final standout feature is the infinity pool: panoramic and multicolored, lined with polished terracotta tiles in varying shades of blue and framed by cream-colored chaise lounges and dusty pink umbrellas.
