History
Palazzo Margherita was built in Bernalda around the mid-19th century by the Margherita family. The town was the birthplace and home of Agostino Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola’s grandfather, who always referred to it affectionately as “Bernalda bella.” Francis purchased the Palazzo in 2004 with the desire to transform it into a small, luxurious Italian boutique hotel and introduce visitors to this still undiscovered region.
The surrounding countryside, settled by the Greeks before the Roman era, is part of Magna Graecia, the coastal areas of Southern Italy, where thriving local agriculture produces fruits and vegetables, as well as Aglianico grapes used to make wines of the same name. Nestled between the ancient cities of Metapontum and Matera, the area is rich with history, including the cave dwellings of the Sassi di Matera, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Matera was named a European Capital of Culture for 2019.
Décor
Francis Coppola spent more than six years restoring Palazzo Margherita with acclaimed designer Jacques Grange, opening it as a hotel in 2012. He wanted a place his children would come back to, so he brought the whole family in to contribute ideas to the design, giving the Palazzo a distinctly personal sense of place.
Inside, historic finishes sit alongside details that reflect the Palazzo’s history and the family’s influences. The hand-painted frescoed vaulted ceilings were preserved and restored, including one depicting Cupid and Psyche. The original marble floors were lifted and relaid, while patterned tilework adds another layer of character. Grange also designed some of the tiles and furniture himself, including the Francis Suite, which draws on a North African style as a tribute to Francis’s Tunisian-born grandmother.
