Rabat – French intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy, commonly known as BHL, has put his seaside Tangier mansion on the market for USD 6.8 million.
Lévy’s decision came as a result of his numerous real estate holdings and time spent traveling. “I live part of my time in Paris, part of my time in New York, part of my time in Marrakech,” the author told Bloomberg Pursuits. “I have too many houses and too many places to be in the world, and alas, the year is only 52 weeks.”
To date, his six story, 594.58 m² villa is displayed for sale on Christie’s International Real Estate, which describes the mansion as a “one-of-a-kind villa, arranged over six levels with spectacular sea-view terraces on every floor.”
The leftist author of “Barbarism with a Human Face” bought the villa in 2000. Upon first looking at it, he thought that it was “the most magical spot in Tangier,” he explained to Bloomberg.
Located at the “precise point where Atlantic and Mediterranean meet,” the villa sits at “the top of a cliff, in front of Gibraltar,” which inspired Lévy to buy the house, despite its “ordinariness.” He trusted renowned interior designer Andrée Putman to renovate it.
“The spot was unique, but the house was ordinary, so I brought in my old friend Andrée Putman,” he said, stressing that “I had the feeling that if I trusted her [Putman], she might do a sort of masterpiece. And she did.”
Both the intellectual and the interior designer were fans of the Dutch painter, Piet Mondria, whose works served as a basis for the villa’s design and as a “sort of a password between her and me.”
After five years of renovation, “the minimalist property is a masterpiece of clean lines and geometric forms, and its prominent location helps create unforgettable 180-degree maritime panoramas. The exquisite villa is one of only four homes ever designed by Andrée Putman, who was renowned for her work designing boutiques for Yves Saint Laurent and Thierry Mugler,” describes Christie’s International Real Estate.
Now that Lévy is selling his Tangier mansion, he plans on leaving as much of Putman’s decorations to the next owners as he can. “Real decoration that belongs to the house,” he elucidated “But, of course, I will not leave my books or my paintings.”
