A five-minute push from the al and a large, mature garden is a unique sight in Marrakech. If it has all that, chances are you’re looking at a bit of a trek out into the 54 square miles of the Palmeraie, the sanctuary planted by the Almoravid kingdom in the 11th century. Large, covered lawns, several terraces, 150-year-old oil and walnut trees, etc. However, at Jnane Rumi, an 11-bedroom property owned by French artist Gert-Jan van cave Bergh and his spouse Corinne, this situation, which is elysian Maghrebi bliss, is a joyful reality. The homeowner’s remarkable series of north African art, which showcases the country’s most promising talents and storytellers, is another. When a house-hotel is available, with 11 rooms spread out between the major palace, three backyard pavilions, and a personal invade with a pool, each with its own unique configurations of color, art, light, and nature, when Nanne Rumi is taken over for personal holidays or events. The dining room in Suite Burhan, which features Roberto Ruspoli’s frescoes and Rotin Ameublement’s chairs, was where Van den Bergh and Corinne initially spent weeks looking for a second family home, and they immediately considered whether or not to live there while residing in a riad. He claims that “visiting is brilliant” despite the Un title. However, living there was a little too much of everything: noise, pollution, travelers, etc. So they began the search farther away; de den Bergh estimates that they saw about 20 locations before coming upon Jnane Rumi. The garden was the one that won the house over the other, or the land was at best so-so, or the other way around. It was large, clean, shaded by huge, ancient palms and cedars, sketched occasionally with bougainvilleas, the whole anchored by a lengthy pool tiled in turquoise chevron patterns. However, the bungalow was also distinctive:” It was essentially one of the five oldest homes in the entire Palmeraie; it had four bedrooms, never enormous; it was a house.” It was created in the middle of the last century by Tunisian designer Charles Boccara, who likewise designed Marrakech’s Theatre Royal. It was difficult to move from that house to the two-storey palace and independent buildings that now make up the house.” Boccara himself lived here for years, and after him the Moroccan psychologist Paul Pascon, and all kinds of artists and intellectuals were constantly passing through. Van den Bergh found a sympathetic architect in Nicolas Bodé, a Boccara protégé, who assisted him in implementing Boccara’s aesthetic across a much larger space. However, there were difficulties, such as the discovery that Boccara had built his lovely house without a foundation about halfway through the second storey addition. The van de Berghs ‘ intention was to reevaluate their strategy after the enforced pauses:” We realized we had an opportunity and the means to create something much more than the house we’d imagined.” We could create a place “on a much grander scale” than just a second home that would accommodate all of our cultural interests and make them accessible to others. The Salon with Nile Gym Kaki, a hanging khayamiya appliqué textile by Louis Barthélemy, and the loggia with chairs by Rotin Ameublement, are the works of David Dumon. The message read,” I’m opening a house-hotel in Marrakech, and I’m looking for a curator,” the message went on. Snoussi, who had no prior curatorial experience, was intrigued:” I thought maybe I’d bring a couple of pieces over and that would be it, a one-off.” But it became clear that this was someone who understood where the art world was at in Morocco and who had the potential to work with Jnane Rumi, which was [a place ] to really kind of create the cultural weather here. In Amsterdam, van den Bergh describes a Moroccan-Dutch art scene that is “absolutely vibrant.” You’re sitting on a gold mine, and you can build a bridge between the West and the North of the country with this opportunity, I’ve heard it repeatedly. Given my place in Dutch culture,” van den Bergh, one of Europe’s foremost restitution-law experts and member of various arts boards, said, “it seemed elementary. Samy was a curate from the beginning, he continues. Suite Konya with rattan chair by Rotin Ameublement and David Dumon is a chair from the designers Mina Abouzahra and David Dumon, according to Snoussi. For instance,” Samir Toumi]alias Iramo] grew up very poor in Casablanca, he works a lot with soap because it’s “poor” material, and connects clearly to his roots.” One of the smaller lounges, made of honey-hued soap bars set into a round panel, has Toumi’s striking map of the African continent. Its upper-left section, the Maghreb, is intricately carved with elaborate decorative script that flares in the moving light. Two tapestries are hung on either side of a large fireplace in the grand salon: one, a khayamiya panel created by the Morocco- and Paris-based French artist Louis Barthélemy, was specifically made for Jnane Rumi. The other, which was created by Paris-born Margaux Derhy, an artist based in Massa, southern Morocco, took her and more than five other embroidery artists six months to complete. The dining room’s chandeliers and objets are displayed in David Dumon’s Suite Valad, which features a Map of Africa by Samir Toumi, ceiling lamps by Kada Oudauni, and a rug by Studio Lid. The majority of it has been purchased from Mustapha Blaoui, the owner of Trésors des Nomades in the medina, a name that is familiar to every interior designer from Palm Beach to Pimlico. According to van den Bergh, the decor was a “group effort” that came together over the course of months. Despite all the meticulous investigation, Jnane Rumi feels like nothing other than a place to unwind. Take a stroll through the sitting areas, where chaabi music blares quietly on the breeze from the open French doors, and you can find any number of quiet spaces where you can sit, read a book, which is available on shelves throughout the house, in various languages, or take a mint tea. Ask Armir, the guest relations manager, for anything you want ( some brioates to snack on, a fresh green juice, a gin and tonic ), and for it to be served wherever you want it ( by the pool, at one of the tables under the cedars, on the shady terrace of your room, semi-enclosed in intricate wood menzeh, or valences ). When you go to bed at night, your room’s fireplace is already lit; if you want, you can also bring silver coffee pots to your door in the morning. Beyond how lovely it is to look at, van den Bergh and his team’s welcoming is the most impressive, both formal and formal. The kitchen, where van den Bergh enlisted the assistance of Karin Gaasterland, formerly the chef-proprietor of Balthazar’s Keuken, a 10-seat restaurant that has topped the Amsterdam Best lists since opening in 1995, is a bed-and-breakfast restaurant made in Marrakech by Lrnce. Gaasterland, a champion of seasonal, hyperlocal cuisine, has worked with Moroccan produce, farms, and food traditions since consulting with Vanessa Branson in 2018 regarding the total redesign of the menus at her Marrakech riad. Gaasterland has been working with Saida Ait ben Hamed, the house chef at Jnane Rumi’s house for months, manipulating recipes and using different ingredients, deconstructing traditional dishes and creating new ones. Unmistakably from the outside, but often presented in fresh, clean configurations. It has a fresh perspective on Morocco, just like the rest of Jnane Rumi, and it’s all stunning to look at. Visit jnanerumi.com for prices on exclusive buyouts for rooms starting at €500, including breakfast.
The best Marrakech street without the hustle and bustle is Jannane Rumi.
