House of Happiness in Tangier: Villa Mabrouka

Morocco was a source of endless inspiration for the legendary fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. He traveled here twice a year with his partner Pierre Bergé to work on his haute couture collections. In 1990, he bought the Villa Mabrouka in Tangier, where he spent the summer with Bergé. The designer's new villa - originally a modernist house from the 1940s - was intended to look like the home of an eccentric Englishman. Each room was decorated with chintz and its own color. "It was like decorating a house for characters from a Tennessee Williams play," says French interior designer Jacques Grange of Saint Laurent's vision, which he was commissioned to design. Grange also counts Princess Caroline of Monaco, fashion designer Valentino Garavani and celebrity chef Alain Ducasse among his clients. He had previously furnished the couple's Château Gabriel in Benerville-sur-Mer in Normandy and was closely acquainted with them.