Yves Saint Laurent's Tangier house for sale

When the fashion designer, Yves Saint Laurent, died in June 2008 at the age of 71, he left behind not just a tremedously important collection of art - he left a fabulous home in Tangier. Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé purchased the property in 1998. Now Christie's Great Estates (a subsidiary of the auction house) have announced that Marrakech broker Majorelle Investissement SARL, is offering the house for sale.

Part of the Madison Cox designed garden (photo Ivan Terestchenko)

The home, Villa Mabrouka (House of Luck) is in a superb cliffside position overlooking the Straits of Gibraltar. If you are in the market for a lavish hideway, then this could be just the place. It boasts five bedrooms and has a glorious garden, designed by Madison Cox. Cox laid out the garden with towering palms, citrus and rolling lawns to emphasise the unfettered view across the sea. The pool was carved out of a large rock and has an adjacent red stucco pavilion by American architect Stuart Church

The blue chintz drawing room (photo Ivan Terestchenko)

The interior design was by the legendary designer Jacques Grange.

‘It was based on the house of an eccentric Englishman who moved to Tangier in the 1950s,’ says Grange. ‘Yves wanted chintz, with each room a single colour – a blue room, a yellow room. It was like decorating a house for people out of a play by Tennessee Williams.’

You can read more about the house in The Private World of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé by Robert Murphy with superb photographs by Ivan Terestchenko.

However, if you are now all enthused and would like to snap this desirable residence up, take a cold shower - it will cost you a motza. When asked about the price range, Christies came over all coy and refused to release any details.

On the other hand, Christie's was happy to say that it will offer a second sale from the art collection of Saint Laurent and Bergé with auction house Pierre Bergé and Associates on Nov. 17, 18 and 19 in Paris.

The sale of almost 1,200 art works is estimated to fetch between 3 and 4 million euro ($4.26-$5.68 million). The first auction took place in February.