Welcome to design paradise: How the prestige market in Marrakech is making a comeback

Marrakech is a design-lover’s paradise. Architects, interior designers, artists and fashion types from around the world bookmark the Moroccan city – once home to French fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent – as a source of inspiration, wandering down labyrinthine alleys in the medina, poking around hip boutiques in the Gueliz district and savouring the opulence of majestic estates on the city’s outskirts.

“The first choice one must make,” says Alex Peto, a partner at Christies International Real Estate affiliate Kensington Luxury Properties, “is whether you want to be in the city in the ancient medina and a riad or in a villa a few miles out of town where one can enjoy the piece and quiet and the fantastic views of the High Atlas Mountains covered in snow for much of the year.”

Another option: golf course estates, a booming sector in the Marrakech market.

In the upmarket Palmeraie district, an oasis of palms, fruit trees and luxury properties on the northern edge of Marrakech, a 10-bedroom property is listed for sale through Kensington Luxury Properties with a guide of €4.3 million (about $6.858 million).

Villa Grafias is an elegant, terracotta-hued structure with generous outdoor living areas punctuated by soaring archways.

Intricate mosaic tiles and carved woodwork showcase local artisanal style.

Along with the 10 bedrooms are 10 bathrooms, plus five staff rooms. Other amenities include a heated pool and a spa with hammam, massage room and gym.

Current market

For much of the past decade, international buyers turned their backs on Morocco amid concerns over ongoing terrorism in the region. Prices dipped and supply soared.

Peto says sentiment is shifting after several difficult years, “mainly due to the uncertainty foreign investors felt because of problems in other North African countries”.

Smarttraveller.gov.au still advises travellers to exercise a high degree of caution in Morocco.

Can Australians buy in?

Foreigners can buy property in Morocco, using a notary to conduct the transaction. For buyers, the taxes and fees add up to about 10 per cent of the purchase price. Foreigners aren’t permitted to buy agricultural land, unless they can get permission to change the use of the land.

What you can buy for …

$12.7 million

Gaze upon the Atlas Mountains from Albali Villa, a nine-bedroom property embracing traditional Moroccan architecture on the outskirts of Marrakech.

$9.5 million

Kasbah Tagountaft was a tribal stronghold in the late 1800s. Today, the imposing shell of a building is a fixer-upper from the pages of history, overlooking the River Nfis.

$4.6 million

Take a load off at Villa Julia, a photogenic seven-bedroom pile where the relaxation options range from hammam and spa to pool and palm-fringed garden.