Serge Lutens' Marrakech Hideaway

Prefumer Serge Lutens spent 35 years creating this private house in the heart of historic Marrakech. He designed every detail himself: doorknobs, light fixtures, paneling.

Here he displays his collection of orientalist art and antique carpets.

The entrance to the laboratory, where Lutens sometimes works on scents.

A terrace entrance. In keeping with Moorish tradition, the exterior of the house is plain.

He says he had as many as 500 men working on the job at once, and says "I felt like the director of the pyramid of Cheops." Now that it is finished he finds he can hardly stand to be in it, and he sleeps in a small studio nearby. What a fleeting thing is happiness, always a step beyond our reach.

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