French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent (1936 – 2008) was born on August 1. On the birthday of the master, we remember one of his most remarkable houses — the villa “Mabruka”. Its latest restoration was carried out according to the project of Jacques Grange

During the reconstruction of the Villa Mabrouk (“House of Luck”), made by Jacques Grange for Pierre Berger, a wraparound terrace was added to the house. The romantic garden is the work of landscape painter Madison Cox.

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Nicolas Mathéus

Villa Mabrouk towers over the medina of Tangier and keeps a history of more than one lifetime. The first part of it refers to the years that Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé spent here together. At that time, the interior breathed the aromas of Tangier and was a spicy mixture of decadence, books by Paul Bowles and assumed carelessness. “Yves asked me to arrange the house as if it had been bought by an eccentric Englishwoman who decided to settle in Tangier,” recalls the decorator Jacques Grange. — This idea fully corresponded to his tastes. Possessing an unusually subtle sense of color, Saint Laurent adored overloaded interiors, and preferred shiny waxed chintz to all furniture fabrics.”

The original paving and columns in the Moorish style have been preserved in the lobby. Painted double doors with glazed windows and brass decor lead to the living rooms.

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NICOLAS MATHÉUS

After the couturier left, life at the villa stopped, Pierre Berger stopped coming here. However, after many years, the decorator was again called to the headboard of this “sleeping beauty”. “Pierre decided one day to bring the villa back to life, and I began to restructure it,— continues Jacques Grange. — He broke through the walls, opened the windows, built something like a terrace-promenade. Now you can walk there like on the deck of a ship.” By that time, the decorator and the customer had been communicating with each other for forty years, and therefore it was not difficult to make a decision about changes. “We just continued the conversation we started once,” says Jacques Grange.

“Pierre decided one day to bring the villa back to life. It was as if we were continuing a conversation that we had started once.”

Jacques Grange compares the living room surrounded by a terrace with an observation tower. Rattan furniture, Bonacina. Table lamp, designed by Madeleine Kasten. A low Moroccan table with a copper top is combined with a Murano glass chandelier. Syrian tables-stools, an Indian cabinet inlaid with bone and wood and dishes of the XIX century were found at the antique dealer Bubker Temli in the Tindouf market. On the floor is a traditional mat from the south of Morocco.

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NICOLAS MATHÉUS

The colonial atmosphere interspersed with Africanism received a new reinforcement. The original chess floor and columns in the Moorish style have been preserved in the hall. The chairs in the dining room are upholstered in the same waxed chintz that the couturier loved so much. The Moorish style has also been preserved by the Willow bedroom, which is used as a guest room. Pierre Berger’s bedroom has turned into a kind of enveloping straw “cocoon” thanks to ochre curtains and wall panels made of woven raffia.

The former bedroom of Pierre Berger. The walls are paneled with raffia. Bed and chest of drawers, designed by Jean Royer, 1950s.

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NICOLAS MATHÉUS

The former bedroom of Yves Saint Laurent is decorated in Moorish style. Chandelier made of turquoise glass beads. The bed, designed by Jacques Grange. Tables, 1950s, painted white. There is a Japanese mat on the floor.

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NICOLAS MATHÉUS

Outside there is a garden of Paradise, invented by the landscape painter Madison Cox, a companion of Pierre Berger. In the thick of the rare plants of the Mediterranean hides a charming tea “kiosk”. Like a precious casket dedicated to decorative art, it is decorated with frescoes by the English artist Lawrence Minott. From the sea side, the villa also has a spacious panoramic pavilion with views of the Strait of Gibraltar.

On the terrace — garden chairs, 1950s.

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NICOLAS MATHÉUS

On the edge of the garden, very close to the sea, there is a charming tea kiosk hidden. The wall paintings were executed by the artist Lawrence Minott. Rattan chairs are the work of a local craftsman. The floor is made of polished stone and pebbles.

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NICOLAS MATHÉUS

“Yves asked to arrange the house as if it was bought by an eccentric Englishwoman”

Canary palms grow in the light-flooded corridor. On an Italian marble table there is a vase of Italian ceramics, XVI century. Consoles, France, 1950s. Chairs, XIX century.

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NICOLAS MATHÉUS

Bamboo armchairs are dozing in this tea salon, and a luxurious Roman mosaic brought by Jacques Grange from Syria more than two decades ago looks down on them.

The summer pavilion is located on the sea side. The addition to the walls, which preserved the patina of time, was a panel with Roman mosaics. A low table, also decorated with marble mosaics, designed by Jacques Grange.

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NICOLAS MATHÉUS

“Pierre Berger, who did so much for Tangier in his time (in particular, he saved the Colonnade Library from destruction), did not have time to see the final transformation of his house,” concludes Jacques Grange. — But it seems amazing to me that he continued to decorate it until the last day. Memories are still alive in the house, and the best decor is also a tribute to memory.”

The wall paintings based on Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” were made by the masters of the atelier Mériguet-Carrère. Console, designed by Jean-Charles Moret. Table lamp, XIX century, from the collection of Madeleine Castin.

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NICOLAS MATHÉUS

The chairs in the dining room are upholstered with the same waxed chintz that the couturier loved so much

Canteen. Mirror in a shell frame, Armelle Fabre. The chairs are upholstered in waxed chintz, Yves Saint Laurent’s favorite material. Mahogany table and chairs, XIX century. On the sides of the fireplace are English vases of the Minton manufactory.

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NICOLAS MATHÉUS

Polina Chesova

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