From the archive (1961): Barbara Hutton's house in Tangier
At one time or another most of us have dreamed of a house within an ancient and legendary city in the sun. Sir John Kirk at Zanzibar and a dozen others from fact and fiction come to mind, and even though Alan Moorehead's account (in his remarkable book, The White Nile) of the demerits of such domesticity may damp our ardour for a while, it soon comes back with a rush-especially when we come to a fabulous realization of the dream—a house of great luxury in an exotic setting under the sun, with the breezes of the Atlantic to temper the heat when too intense.
Most of us would agree that this is such a place: roof tops well above the native quarters, a celestial sky, clear clean colours, the scent of flowers and the nearby ocean. And just to whet the stay-at-home's appetite to the limit, below these rooftops are quiet rooms, cosseting bathrooms, cool patios and a bang-up-to-the minute kitchen. In brief, a house with all the refinements for life in a hot climate.
Seven years ago, Barbara Hutton fell in love with this large house right in the middle of the Tangier Casbah, not very far from the 'Grand Socco', the native market-place which not even tourism has succeeded in changing overmuch during recent decades. The house follows no conventional plan for North African or, for that matter, for any house, for it was constructed (or rather reconstructed) from a series of seven small native houses which had been linked together by a former owner. To add to the fairy-tale quality of the house six Spanish servants who were already in the house when Miss Hutton took over are still with her.
Miss Hutton has transformed these small houses into a handsome, comfortable villa of substantial proportions, but, needless to say, the telescoping of seven houses into one has resulted in a house on an almost bewildering series of levels. These varying levels are apt to persuade visitors that they are in a house of mirrors so often do they find themselves back in the room they have just left or on a staircase which takes them unexpectedly back to the roof, which they have just left.
The roof itself is a series of terraces, gaily painted blue-and-white and crenellated. From this vantage point the fortunate visitor looks over the whole Casbah, and then, beyond the city, to the vast Atlantic. The view is sheer enchantment, emphasized by the fact that five minutes before, the visitor was deep in the narrow dark streets of the Casbah.
From these streets, a heavy nailed wooden door opens on to the first patio of the house, which is planted with yew-trees. On the left is a small hall from which rises the staircase leading to the first floor. Opposite the entrance is the principal salon with a french window. The right-hand side of the patio is closed off by a large guest-room with bathroom.
The first floor consists chiefly of the large Blue Room, a living room and the owner's own suite, with a small private terrace looking towards the Bay of Tangier. The so-called Blue Room is really a room of blues and reds, which, although violent, are perfectly attuned and give the room a vibrant vitality. In Miss Hutton's own room, the yellow and coral colours are extremely delicate. This is the most spectacular of all the many rooms in this palace-villa-house, for here are the renowned embroidered fabrics and the Maharajah's carpet. From the Blue Room, a small landing gives on to the stair case leading to the terraced rooftops.
But perhaps the summer dining-room and the principal patio exercise most charm over the visitor. A large french window opens from the dining-room on to the patio where several mosaic benches are arranged around flower-beds and a large fig-tree. Here Miss Hutton can take advantage of all that North Africa can offer, yet too rarely does offer the visitor: a sequestered, civilized, green shelter from the omnipresent sun with the added amenity of those cool Atlantic zephyr breezes.
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Anthony Denney4/10In the formal salon, the sofa is covered with an Indian fabric and hand- embroidered jewelled cushions which are stitched with real gold thread.
Anthony Denney5/10The salon on the second floor has, as its main feature, an eighteenth-century Japanese screen. The carpet is modern.
Anthony Denney6/10The main bedroom with pale creamy pink walls and coral bedspread. The head of the bed follows a traditional Moresque decorative pattern.
Anthony Denney7/10The wonderful miscellany of the Blue Room: modern carpet, English ship furniture, Venetian chandelier, and a mirror from Fez.
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Anthony Denney9/10The cool looking summer dining-room leads on to the patio.
Anthony Denney10/10Fountains, flower-beds and mosaic benches in the patio.
