Having grown-up amidst the sun-soaked terraces and lush Tuscan gardens of the Hotel Il Pellicano on Italy’s Argentario coast, today the architect and designer Marie-Louise Sciò leads the storied family business started by her parents in the mid 1960s.

In addition to Il Pellicano and Hotel La Posta Vecchia, a 17th-century villa situated just outside of Rome, Sciò also manages her firm MLS Design, whose portfolio includes hospitality, residential work and product design. The hotelier’s forays into publishing have seen the release of Eating at Hotel Il Pellicano, shot by Juergen Teller with a preface by Will Self, and the Rizzoli-published Hotel Il Pellicano, featuring photographs by Slim Aarons, John Swope and Teller.

For Il Pellicano’s recent 50th-anniversary celebration, Sciò flew in Colin Peter Field – the head bartender at the Hemingway Bar at the Paris Ritz – to look after guests such as the Missoni family and cult designer Olympia Le-Tan, revealing an effortless ability to bring together diverse creative talents.