Villa’s design embraces the sea
Minimalist style, natural hues and commanding stairway complete Moroccan home
When famous French designer Andrée Putman turned her talents to recreating a Moroccan villa 15 years ago, she had a little help from nature.
The expanse of brilliant blue water in front of the cliffside retreat, in fact, commanded the spotlight.
“There’s one star in the house and that’s the sea,” says real-estate broker Marc Leon. “Everything was done inside with the light and views in mind.”
The white geometric masterpiece, which rises 60 metres above the sea in Tangier on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast, is one of only four homes designed by Putman, who died in 2013.
The designer did mostly commercial interiors, including boutiques for fashion giants Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld.
Built about 50 years ago, Putman completely redid the villa after her friend, French philosopher and author Bernard-Henri Lévy, and his wife, actor Arielle Dombasle, bought it in 2001.
Drawing on her signature minimalist style, Putman polished it to perfection, according to Leon of Kensington Finest Properties International, which is listing the propertyin partnership with Christie’s International Real Estate.
The striking white square structure takes its colour cues from the water, sky and distant mountains.
“Everything is black and white and grey with very bright blue from the sea,” Leon says.
“The house lives really with the outside colours.”
With clean lines and abundant use of natural illumination, the multistorey villa has a flowing floor plan that’s prime for entertaining. Living spaces and bedrooms open to spacious terraces that overlook coastal vistas.
Yet the most commanding feature, according to Leon, is the wide, exterior stairway that leads down to an infinity pool and up to a dramatic entrance where the door is disguised as a pane of glass.
“It’s an incredible feeling at the top of these monumental stairs,” he says.
“You have the impression you could jump into the sea.”
Spread over six levels, all the rooms have “fantastic views,” he notes, with features that include skylights, fireplaces and floor-to-ceiling windows.
Leading off the main entrance, the Putman-designed kitchen is characterized by beech and white marble.
The lower level, where the shower room, sauna and gym reside, contains a passage built into cliff rocks that were hollowed out by stonemasons.
Flanked by the former homes of Saint Laurent and the late billionaire publisher Malcolm Forbes, the retreat overlooks the Strait of Gibraltar in a location unlike any other, Leon says.
“It’s a very fantastic area,” he says, adding that the sea lends “a feeling of freedom.”