A friend and I recently took it into our heads to lace up our hiking boots, pack a picnic lunch, and employ Said as our guide.

Starting point: L’Amandier Villas, Ouirgane.
Destination: Kasbah Tamadot (Richard Branson’s Moroccan Retreat), Asni.
Estimated hike time: 4.5 hours.

I’m sure I’ve said it before, but, can I just say one more time how beautiful this area of the High Atlas mountains is? The idea that you could wake up in the morning in a villa in L’Amandier, walk out the door and simply make a decision on which direction to explore that day, is very appealing. Spending 4 hours walking to work up an appetite, and then sitting down to a fabulous lunch and a chilled bottle of wine at Kasbah Tamadot, is definitely worth doing. But I’ll let the pictures do the talking…

The view from L’Amandier, the starting point…

After a gentle stroll through olive groves, Upper Marigha Village, and an unexpected Salt mine, the ascent begins. I’m already lagging behind…

The traditional Berber village of Tinzert, lost in time on a tranquil mountainside…

Looking back on Tinzert as we climb higher…

And higher (only Said is out in front now)…

And finally the beautiful pass, where kids spend the day minding the animals and playing games…

The descent; down to the Imlil Valley and our goal of Kasbah Tamadot.

Unsurprisingly, Said was absolutely spot on. The hike took us EXACTLY 4.5 hours. But then he should know. Both him and his brother Abdul, both English speaking locals, have 15 years guiding experience.  If you are in the area, it is worth getting in touch with them for more information about the High Atlas and the trekking opportunities.  They can arrange day treks, or longer treks for up to a week with overnight stays in Berber houses. They will also undertake the Mount Toubkal climb with you (as Anwar, our esteemed director, will attest to). Mules, for the weary of foot or just for the luggage, can be provided, and they can even arrange outdoor cooking courses with Mohamed the trek chef.

Don’t just take our word for it. Abdul and Mohamed made it onto the pages of the Telegraph. See the article: http://tinyurl.com/yg5mrzk

To contact the brothers:

bestfootforward02@hotmail.com or  00 212 (0) 671 37 77 22

It is on days like this that I sometimes ask myself why I am not sitting behind a comfortable desk in a clean office, with coffee on tap, logical emails to answer, and people around me that I understand.

Instead, I spent my morning in Bab el Khmis; the noisy, industrial area of the Marakech Medina.  I stood in the pouring rain, up to my ankles in mud, surrounded by bedraggled looking donkeys and a gang of Moroccan men arguing about the price of wooden posts and wire mesh. My mind was definitely wandering…

The mission was to procure materials to create the garden fences around the L’ Amandier villa plots. We aim to keep them as natural as possible and plan to use wild pomegranate to form the organic barrier between gardens.  However, this clearly needs something to guide it’s growth, which is why I came to be buying fence poles and wire mesh.

We initially looked at hand-made bamboo fencing, but it wasn’t sturdy enough…

So we went for wooden poles which will be sunk into concrete (unseen)…

Nothing is straightforward. Transporting the poles out of the Medina to our waiting pick-up…

It all eventually made it up to our tranquil site in the mountains, but I have a horrible feeling we didn’t buy enough posts…do you think I can delegate next time?

Villa 6 was missing something vital for a while there. But now it feels complete. As you enter the villa into the central corridor you are struck by the sense of space and light, largely due to the 7 metre skylight running the length of the heart of the villa.

There has been a lot of head scratching about the best way to provide protection from the elements during the winter, yet allow for as open a space as possible for ventilation during the summer months.

We opted for an aluminium frame with both ends fixed, but sliding central portions for a maximum opening and airflow.

The sections glide open easily and lock for security when closed.

We will however be making a final change to the design this week, by replacing the plastic material used, with strengthened glass. This will give an even clearer sky view as well as increased durability. The consensus was unanimous on this decision, which is the way we like it.

I’ll post an update photo as soon as the modification has been finished.

Villa 5 was finished, so it was time to dress it up and fire the imagination a little. It can be difficult to envisage an empty house with the benefit of warmth and furnishings. We wanted to capture some images that would nudge that imagination into working and bring the villa alive.

In order to achieve this we brought on board renowned British photographer, Suzanne Porter, who is based in Marrakech, and her prefered local stylist Cassie Karinsky, whose fantastic eye for detail and style is highly valued by Suzanne, and therefore us.

The local businesses of Marrakech were absolutely amazing and helped us enormously by lending their precious products and creations especially for the shoot. I cannot say a big enough THANK YOU to them all!

Our first stop was to source the rugs we would need. Brothers Soufiane and Smile have a veritable priceless stock of beautiful rugs and mats sourced from moroccan artisans and those farther afield. This was the stunning Beni Ourain rug that we chose for the bedroom shot, and you can just see the equally beautiful Mauritanian mat that it is sitting on, that eventually graced the floor of the living room.

Soufiane and Smile were also kind enough to lend us the sequined Handira (Berber wedding blankets) that were used on the roof terrace and the Koran tablets used on the bedside table. Leather designer and manufacturer, Youssef Bennani, lent us the gorgeous leather poufs - one of which i have since bought because i loved it so much!

The beautiful handmade fabrics used on the bed, the roof terrace and some of the cushions were supplied by Florence Teillet. For anyone interested in unique, quality textiles, Florence’s showroom in Sidi Ghanem will definitely have you captivated. All are made in Morocco to Florence’s designs and are used in some of the chicest of Marrekch riads.

Another local textile designer, Marion Verdier, owner of Atelier Nihal, supplied us with countless fabulous cushions (my favourite being the orange and silver!). Marion’s products are bespoke and are again designed and produced here in Morocco.

Mustapha Blaoui is famous in Marrakech for his incredible stock of Moroccan products and furniture and he was magnanimous to let us run wild and raid his treasure trove for lanterns, mirrors, candelabras, bedside cabinets, and other useful items

The well-known home decor boutique, Scenes de Lin, (in Gueliz, Marrakech), came up trumps with beautiful bed linen, towels and bathroom products. We were spoilt for choice and coveted most of the shop’s stock!

And last, but by no means least, my thanks to Lara Cleminson who kindly allowed us to sneak into her Riad, Dar Missiana, early one morning, and load a selection of furniture onto hand-pulled cart, to be spirited away to Ouirgane for the weekend.

Thank you again. All of you. For bringing our villa alive.

Contact details:

Suzanne Porter, Photographer:  www.suzanneporter.com / info@suzanneporter.com

Cassie Karinsky, Stylist:  cassiek00@hotmail.com / +212 (0) 663 775 690

Soufiane & Smile, Carpets:  zarib_mohid@hotmail.com

Florence Teillet, Handmade textiles:  atwlflo@yahoo.fr / +212 (0) 661 225 905

Atlelier Nihal, Handmade textiles:  atelier.nihal@hotmail.fr / +212 (0) 671 160 162

Mustapha Blaoui, Moroccan home products:  +212 (0) 524 385 240 / Arset Aouzale         No.142, Bab Doukkala, Marrakech Medina

Scenes de Lin, Home decor:  www.scenes-de-lin.com

Youssef Bennani, Leather designer:  bennani21@hotmail.com / +212 (0) 661 666 324

Lara Cleminson, Dar Missiana & Koubba (Events):  www.koubba.com

We recently dressed up the completed Villa 5 in allsorts of local finery. The local businesses of Marrakech were incredibly kind and helped bring the first L’Amandier villa to life (more on that in a separate post). We were all pretty impressed with how elegant the villa looked and Nick, our architect, even came over all emotional at seeing his vision realised. We’d love to hear your views…

Photography: Suzanne Porter (www.suzanneporter.com)

I’ve been slack and am long overdue for a blog post. To be fair, I have actually been really very busy, along with the rest of the team. Does that count as an excuse for the lack of blogging?

But the good news is…we have finished Villa 5! Can I tell you that, due to deadlines and the complication of Ramadan, it proved to be a little like pushing an unruly elephant up a very steep hill whilst armed only with a chopstick? But we made it and the villa looks fabulous. We have final snags to attend to, but I can give you a sneak preview of the final look and feel of the L’Amandier villas…

The interior courtyard…

The bouh (alcoved seat) within the internal courtyard…

The view to the internal garden from bedroom one…

…and from bedroom two

Ensuite bathroom…

Fully fitted kitchen…

The open-plan living/dining room…

The roof terrace…

The pergola on the roof terrace will have canvas sails for shade and plenty of cushions…

The garden terrace with the plunge pool runs the length of the living/dining room and the kitchen…

The finished villa. Next step; the garden…

The vision of L’Amandier has now become a reality. It has a wamth and a feeling of tranquility. A simplicity enhanced with beautiful details. A feeling of the inside flowing out and the outside flowing in. Contrasting yet harmonious colours and textures. It is hard to capture the true feel of the villa through photos, but I hope they serve as a good starting point.

My trusty old point and shoot camera has been busy capturing the progression on site aswell as images of Morocco in general. To see all the images (which are constantly being updated), go the the galleries section on the right.