For over thirty years Meryanne Loum-Martin has been the style setter of Marrakesh and here she brings all her knowledge, expertise and taste under one roof as she explores and explains the mysteries and magic of Moroccan design traditions.
INSIDE MARRAKESH – Enchanting Homes and Gardens – is a stunning compilation of some of the city’s most beautiful palaces, riads and villas as well as a magical tour of the gardens with Loum-Martin as your guide, while Jean Cazals photographed all in their glory.
Loum-Martin, a lawyer turned tastemaker, arrived in Marrakesh some thirty years ago and set about falling in love with the place while promoting its arts, crafts and beauty. Her own award-winning boutique hotel- Jnane Tamsna – was the backdrop for her love of the traditional mixed with the contemporary. Here she commissioned furniture, textiles, ironwork, pottery and lamps honouring ancient techniques and the work of traditional artisans and displaying them in a style all her own throughout, a total of 24 individual rooms plus five villas and pools. Her eye for detail and love of colour are seen throughout the property while the nine-acre garden planted and designed by her ethnobotanist husband, Gary Martin is a true homage to the lushness and sensuousness of Marrakesh.
The chic mix of Berber blankets and European furnishings transforms the courtyard into an outdoor living room.
And it is this knowledge of the city, its environs and its occupants that makes Loum-Martin the best guide to INSIDE MARRAKESH. Here we are taken behind the scenes at some of the grandest houses and riads owned and designed by such luminaries as Jasper Conran, Lynn Guinness and Vanessa Branson, given a peek at some the great gardens such as the Villa Majorelle, so beloved by Yves St Laurent, to the elegance of the Bulgari gardens and those of Villa Oasis.
Each villa is a feast, each garden path a revelation, each cooling fountain a place to refresh and each room an inspiration. The riads may be grand, the owners iconic but under Loum-Martin’s guidance the objects, the ideas and the design are eminently inspirational.
Inside Marrakesh: Enchanting Homes and Gardens
By Meryanne Loum-Martin and Jean Cazals
Published by Rizzoli.
Hardback. £46, $60
Order your copy HERE
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