_International Property Digest: Marrakech, a city of culture
Next year is set to be an important one for Marrakech, Morocco’s unofficial capital of cool. The Red City, named for its distinctive clay buildings, has been nominated as the African Capital of Culture for 2020, highlighting its architectural heritage and its new modern heartbeat.
Marrakech’s bohemian charms are legendary. The city was a swinging sixties party hang out for Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger while Winston Churchill called it ‘simply the most lovely spot in the world’.
A thriving arts and culture scene
Today along with that history, it is Marrakech’s burgeoning modern art scene attracting a new generation to the city. The opening of the Museum of Art and Culture Marrakech (MACMA) in 2016 followed the next year by the Musée Yves Saint Laurent has been backed up by a number of new contemporary art fairs.
The most significant is 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair Marrakech, first held in 2018 and now an annual event focused exclusively on African artists. Fair organiser Touria el Glaoui, daughter of a notable Moroccan artist, chose Marrakech specifically for its appeal to international collectors, further demonstrating the city’s ability to showcase both traditional craftsmanship and innovative art. The next 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair Marrakech will be held from 22-23 February 2020 in the iconic La Mamounia Hotel.
Visitors also come for Marrakech’s exceptional gardens. The Jardin Majorelle is the most famous but exotic colours and heady scents are everywhere across the city: public and private gardens filled with vibrant bougainvillea, tall palms, jasmine, roses and mint.
The gardens and the city in general showcase a thrilling mix of Berber, Arabic and French culture, enticingly close to Europe yet so very different. Inspect the powdery pyramids of saffron and cumin in the Medina, travel to mountain villages high in the Atlas Mountains or sample a carefully spiced tagine on a riad rooftop as the night sky fills with the call to prayer.
Buying property in Marrakech
Property buyers started to arrive in numbers at the start of the millennium. Initially they bought riads among the labyrinth lanes of the Medina, investing in traditional townhouses built around calm inner courtyards with exquisite design details: keyhole-style doorframes, smooth tadelakt plasterwork and exquisite tiling. Local craftsmanship is exceptional and renovating or updating a house provides the best excuse to scour the souks.
There are options immediately outside the city too. La Palmeraie, the exclusive and peaceful estate twenty minutes to the north has sprawling low-level villas in spacious gardens while the valleys heading towards the Atlas Mountains have homes over-looking golf courses and olive groves.
Five-star hotels have a significant presence in Marrakech too, many offering branded residences for sale. Four Seasons Branded Residences set a new price point for Marrakech when they launched and rapidly sold in 2011.
The Fairmont Royal Palm, twenty minutes from both the modern airport and the Medina sells homes within its lavishly planted 222-hectare estate, offering owners excellent leisure and sporting facilities. There’s an 18-hole golf course with its own Country Club, five communal pools including the largest in Marrakech, two well-equipped gyms, four clay tennis courts and two squash courts.
Knight Frank has homes at Fairmont Royal Palm from €650,000 for a contemporary two-bedroom villa with a private garden and pool. A four-bedroom villa on the resort, also single storey, is €1,950,000.
Elsewhere a ten-bedroom townhouse in the Medina with a pool, large courtyard garden and delightful detailing including mosaic tiling and antique wooden doors is €2,500,000. A six-bedroom villa in 2.5 acres on one of the most prestigious roads of La Palmeraie with a spa, hammam and extensive staff accommodation is €3,500,000.
For more information on Knight Frank’s Marrakech Portfolio contact Mark Harvey, Head of International Sales at Knight Frank.