A collector's house in Tangier

 Tangier, Northwestern Morocco

Interior Design: Umberto Pasti

Photography  ©  Ngoc Minh Ngo

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The amazing home of Italian writer and collector Umberto Pasti in Tangier: an extraordinary eclectic mix of diverse objects from different regions of the world and Moroccan artworks decorate the interiors.

British designer Jasper Conran:

"To enter into Umberto Pasti’s world in Tangier is to be transported to paradise. The gardens are lush and green, full of the most extraordinary plants and an occasional slap of violent colour, whilst the house is filled with a curated collection of 16th century Andalusian tiles, ancient Moroccan textiles, sea bleached whale bones an occasional Roman bottom and disparate wonderful paintings and drawings, all assembled with frankly exquisite taste. Every time I visit it feels like a voyage of discovery. Lucky me"

Art objects, atiques and Moroccan artefacts take centre stage in an unusual villa in Tangier

The collection includes Andalusian ironwork, Moroccan textiles, while paintings, photographs, local ceramics and plates are displayed on Jbala's colourful shelves.

Art lawyer Gert-Jan van den Bergh:

Writer, dreamer and garden magician Umberto Pasti, and his partner Stephan Janson, a French-born fashion designer and couturier, fell in love with Morocco more than 30 years ago. Some 26 years ago they turned some ten hectares close to Asilah into a mesmerizing work of love overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. We had the pleasure of enjoying a glorious lunch with the two of them. A turned out to be an interesting exchange of very relatable stories on how to fall in love with Morocco, out of love and into it again.

Mohammed on the right giving a maximalist experience at Tebarek Allah ("praise the Lord "), the Tanger sanctuary of Umberto Pasti and Stephan Janson. At Tebarek Allah, Pasti decorates not with wallpapers, fabric swatches or any preconceived schemes but with objects, placing each piece intuitively. Accordingly, every inch of the home is intricately layered, adorned with objects including lanterns and carpets from Tangier’s bazaars and art from the area’s remote villages and towns. Huge framed panels of Western Islamic, Spanish and medieval sgraffito Moroccan tiles cover several walls. All his pieces, whether a painted Berber shelf or a fragment of a Roman fresco, are precious in their own way and each has its own tale to add to Tebarek Allah’s, itself a fascinating footnote in the long and complex history of Tangier. “I probably own about 150,000 objects,” Pasti says. “Just imagine how packed my head is with stories.” 

You can read more about the creation of the unusual house and its evolution in the book "The House of a Lifetime: A Collector's Journey in Tangier", published by RIZZOLI publishing house