Tigmi in Marrakech - Background

Tigmi Background

It is the recent intricate transformation of four houses into a single property with suites, gardens, pool, dining room and several terraces with 360° views of the entire area stretching as far as Marrakech and the High Atlas Mountians.

It took the skills of up to 200 local people to work on demolishing old and insecure walls, rebuilding terraces, roofs and floors, installing the most up to date electric wiring and modern plumbing with bathrooms adjoining each of the suites, a main pool in the front courtyard and several private pools. The original 20 metre well was dug by hand to a depth of 30 metres in order to ensure a constant and steady supply of water for the whole property as well as putting a tap on the outer wall where the less fortunate in the village can come to collect their domestic water requirements (previously some of them had to walk a mile or more to collect water from the stream).

The entire reconstruction work was carried out using only local materials. Thousands of new bricks were made from the sifted earth, mixed with straw and water which was dug out of the ground to make the large pool. Boulders were transported from the Ourika valley for strengthening the pise walls. Palm trees were bought from the Sahara (the Draa Valley) to use in traditional ways for reinforcing ceilings, railings and ornamentation. Eucalyptus branches were also used for ceiling ornamentation. Limestone from Marrakech was delivered to make the tadlakt walls in the rooms and bathrooms thus making the dwelling cool during the hotter summer months. The walls in some places are 3 ft thick and this ensures warmth in the winter months, supplemented by gas fires in all the rooms.

Tigmi is ideal for those wanting to be further away from the city and to really feel that they are in a true rural setting of a village or hamlet where the local people have had little or any contact with foreigners. Here you will still see women drawing water from a well, shephers taking their sheep and goats into the courtyards of their homes before the sun sets and where you will not see tour busses with hoardes of tourists.

Tigmi is the first of such a properties. It has all the comforts and amenities of city dwelling but with clear and fresh air, spectacular views and the feeling of belonging to a small and hospitable rural hamlet.