Photo by Ngoc Minh Ngo
A centuries-old fig tree in Umberto Pasti’s Moroccan garden
Twenty years ago, Italian writer and horticulturalist Umberto Pasti was lured to the remote village of Rohuna in northern Morocco by a friend who promised a place where no nazrani, no foreigner, had ever set foot before. Pasti was enchanted and set about building a home and expansive garden there, a transformative experience he recounts in Eden Revisited: A Garden in Northern Morocco (Rizzoli, 2019).
Photo by Ngoc Minh Ngo
When gardeners are writers, the gifts of beauty are twofold: magnificent swaths of earth coupled by words generous enough to capture it. “Around here the winds themselves have identities,” Pasti writes. “The sea wind is a giant with icy breath. Even the trees—every apricot tree has its states of mind, every plum tree its shifts of mood.” With every sun-dappled image of ancient olive trees or field of flowers, Pasti invites readers to share his piece of paradise.
Photo by Guido Taroni, courtesy of Vendome Press
An idyllic scene with fresco painted walls in Villa Mabrouka, former home of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé.
The city of Tangier is as complex as the ancient tapestries, tile mosaics, and carved lattices that adorn its homes. Over centuries, it has been Carthaginian, Phoenician, Roman, Vandal, Berber, Arab, Portuguese, English, Spanish, and, finally, Moroccan—each era leaving its ornamental imprint. It’s fitting then, that in his new book, Inside Tangier: Houses & Gardens (Vendome, 2019), interior designer Nicolò Castellini Baldissera tells the city’s story through its décor.
Photo by Guido Taroni, courtesy of Vendome Press
A vivid tangerine bed in Dar Zero, a centuries-old home owned today by Marco Scarani and Jamie Creel of the Manhattan boutique Creel and Gow
Photo by Guido Taroni, courtesy of Vendome Press
The candy-striped ceiling in La Di Dar, decorator Gavin Houghton’s Tangier hideaway
The iconic home of Yves Saint Laurent is here, as well as the ornate Moorish palace owned by Woolworth heiress and legendary hostess Barbara Hutton. Not everyone we meet in Inside Tangier is famous, but what we do find is an artistic community with international sophistication united by love of place.
By Kirk Reed Forrester and Terri Robertson
Featured Books
Inside Tangier: Houses & Gardens by Niccolò Castellini Baldissera with photography by Guido Taroni (Vendome, 2019)
Eden Revisited: A Garden in Northern Morocco by Umberto Pasti and Ngoc Minh Ngo (Rizzoli New York, 2019)
