For celebrated Swiss art collectors Iwan and Manuela Wirth’s first hotel, London designer Russell Sage of Russell Sage Studio and architect Ben Addy of Moxon Architects (in collaboration with artists from the couple’s Hauser & Wirth gallery) fashioned an evocative Scottish country estate into the 46-room Fife Arms in Braemar. The 19th-century coaching inn has had many past lives and “to show how the building has grown,” Sage toggled between the past and the present. Pieces by Pablo Picasso and Louise Bourgeois and a chandelier from modern artist Richard Jackson deliberately contrast the Victorian-styled lobby. “Transitions are quite dramatic,” he notes. From space to space, “you experience different emotions.” With six room types, guestrooms are characteristically elaborate, outfitted with antique furnishings, traditional Scottish colors, bold prints, and original art. Royal suites are inspired by notable visitors like Queen Victoria (whose artwork is also on display) and Princess Royal Louise, while the Nature and Poetry rooms feature wooden headboards ingrained with words by Scottish poet Alec Finlay. The various F&B haunts continue the decadent Scottish flair. In the Drawing Room, for instance, Picasso’s Mousquetaire Assis pops against the Fife Arms tartan wallcovering. Channeling the glamorous style of fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, a frequent visitor to the Highlands in her time, her namesake Art Deco-infused bijou bar is a welcome departure, dipped in pink and bon mots as if it were a whimsical jewelry box.





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