Tag along to Tangier for a behind the scenes visit with designer Veere Grenney at Gazebo, his extraordinary Moroccan home where his sophisticated style and well traveled eye have culminated in an intoxicating exotic paradise.
Throughout New Zealand born Veere Grenney’s storied career, he has traveled the world, had an antique shop on Portobello Road and worked for design icons and firms from David Hicks and Mary Fox Linton to Sibyl Colefax and John Fowler, where he eventually became design director. Along the way, he assiduously studied all forms of beauty, worked diligently at his craft, and absorbed the varied influences of decades of design legends.
With its temperate weather and unique location at the northern tip of Africa overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar, straddling both the Mediterranean and Atlantic, Tangier has been a beacon for international creatives for decades. Veere first visited Tangier in 1973. Twenty years later, he returned and continued to visit every summer, finally purchasing his house high on The Old Mountain in 2009. As Veere described it, Gazebo was then “a neglected cottage on a cliff, with two and a half acres of jungle around and in front of it.”
Conjuring up all the influences and inspirations of his career, Gazebo became Veere’s crowning glory, a very personal “ultimate expression of beauty.” His love of Regency architecture and colonial buildings led to the concept for the house including a colonnaded entry hall (above) with internal courtyard garden (to the right) protected from wind.
One then enters the spacious sitting room, above, a more formal ode to classic British design with chintz lined walls with paintings that all share “a quality of foreignness,” so evocative of the nature of Tangier itself. The other end, with views over the gardens and access to the terrace, is enveloped in treillage with Colefax’s classic Bowood hanging at the French doors.
Veere cites iconic designer Syrie Maugham as inspiration for his charming dining room.
With its impressive collection of early 19th century Royal Worcester plates hung decoratively on the walls, plaster palm tree pilasters executed by local artisans, the space is enchanting for any occasion.
The library is, in my mind, the most evocative of an exotic Moroccan space. It took artist Alistair Erskine, a frequent collaborator, three months to complete the walls’ faux tilework in Mongiardino style.
Throughout the house Veere embraced eclectic combinations of fabrics and furniture for a home that is supremely personal and effortlessly walks the line between refined and artisanal, with contributions of master craftsmen from both Morocco and England.
Without a specific plan in mind, Veere’s design for Gazebo materialized instinctively into the most glorious incarnation of sublime and personal style. Thank you Veere for welcoming us into your exquisite paradise.
You can learn more about Veere’s design philosophy and his homes in his book Seeking Beauty, which includes his residences in Tangier, Suffolk, and London, from Vendome Press, our generous video sponsor who publishes beautiful illustrated books on the fine arts and photography, architecture and interior design, fashion and jewelry, lifestyle and travel, and French culture.
All photos by Stacey Bewkes for Quintessence
