Thursday, April 24

Insides: Younes Zrikem and Ghita Tazi's Moroccan home

I mostly wanted to create this post so I could put up the picture of the embroidered fez sitting room in the 5th picture down but the rest of the house and its story is pretty amazing too.

The house below belongs to Younes Zrikem and Ghita Tazi and was built by Marie-Francoise Giacolette, a Moroccan architect. She was born in Casablanca to Italian parents but has always lived in Morocco. She admires and loves the Moroccan culture and has dedicated herself to upholding the traditional beauty of her country. She has designed and decorated a number of houses in the region, all of which are a tangible reflection of the nation she loves. 

She found the land upon which the house below was built when returning from a walk on the beach. She told Younes and Ghita about it and they purchased it immediately, with out even seeing it (clearly awesome people).

Marie-Francoise used only local construction techniques adopted from the region and hired locals from the near by village to help with building. She worked side by side with the craftsmen and builders for two years, overseeing every detail herself. When she was finished she personally furnished each room, with locally produced goods and furniture made in the surrounding countryside.


The terrance on the western side of the house looks out to the hills and the ocean. Marie didn't use any mechanical vehicles during the building of the house so the topography would be completely preserved.
The marbled floor tiles were made by craftsman from Kser-el-Kebir and the amazing bean bag chair or "sacco" was designed by Zannotta.

The bottom of the stairs to the first floor, with a beautiful Zaiane carpet from the Middle Atlas Mountains.
    
The dinning room table was handcrafted by a local carpenter and the chairs were forged by a black smith from Souk.
The banquette and cushions in this corner of the living room were covered with antique velvet from Fez embroidered by Marie Francoises's sister, Jacqueline.
Thee house has a tradition bread oven by the kitchen entrance.
       
The kitchen banquette and cushions are covered in mendis, the shawls worn by women in the region.
Local tiles with Fez traditional basketware for bathroom storage.

The kitchen, with more handmade tiles.
A tile closeup with some beautiful rugs.

The guest room is furnished with an old Spanish iron bed, and a cork stool from the Chaouen region.

Moroccan carpets from the Middle Atlas Mountains cover the marble floor in the second guest room.

The house has traditional ceilings made from eucalyptus poles and reeds.
Outside, the house is bordered by oleanders and lavender,
 
The study, with a old Goldin ceramic stove.
    

All the photos above are from World of Interiors, I found a ton of pdfs I thought I had deleted this past weekend while cleaning up my desktop I think this was from 2012?

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