New York Times
INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE
By NINA ROBERTS
TRADITIONAL HOUSE WITH FIVE BEDROOMS IN FEZ
Ingrid Pullar for The New York Times
This traditional Moroccan house opens onto a working fountain in a tiled courtyard. More Photos »
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Slide ShowWithin the Medina, a Feast for the Eyes
$653,652 (5,700,000 MOROCCAN DIRHAMS)
This stately two-story house has a central courtyard, a blue-and-white-tiled space illuminated by an open ceiling covered in retractable plastic. Nearly all windows, doors and balconies face this interior courtyard, in the style of a traditional Moroccan house known as a “riad” or “dar.” The recently refurbished structure offers about 6,500 square feet of space, mixing modern comforts while retaining its original architecture and design details. Among these are the two rows of carved columns with tiling that flank the courtyard, the carved cedar wood transoms, and the stained-glass windows.
The house is on the edge of the Medina, Fez’s Old City, a medieval labyrinth of homes, workshops, mosques, bustling marketplaces and narrow alleyways, wide enough for pedestrians and a few donkeys.
“The Medina is really bewitching,” said Cédric Elsener, the owner of Maroc Immobilier Capital, the real estate company selling this property. “It has a weird effect on you. Either you love it or you hate it — nothing in between.” According to Frédéric Sola, owner of Fez Real Estate, a company that sells and renovates riads in the Medina, “Time stopped about five centuries ago. What you see in the Medina, you don’t see anywhere else in the world.”
Cars are prohibited in the 1.5-square-mile area of the Medina, but this house, being near its boundary, comes with a parking space 23 yards from the front door. As with most riads, its nondescript exterior belies an ornate interior. Its size and layout qualify it for use as a guesthouse. The entrance opens into the courtyard, which has a central fountain. Doorways, columns and walls are partially covered in “zelliges,” intricate geometric designs made from tiny pieces of tile pressed into plaster, a craft for which Fez artisans are renowned. Delicately carved plaster designs border windows with rounded tops and crown molding.
Framing the courtyard on the first floor are three living rooms, which currently function as bedrooms, and a room called a “bartal,” traditionally used as a meeting place for celebrations, Mr. Elsener said. There are also three and a half baths on this floor, some outfitted with Roca fixtures from Spain, others with Jacob Delafon fixtures from France. The kitchen is on this floor, as are several additional rooms not currently in use. The house has central heating and air-conditioning, as well as supplemental electric heating in the bathrooms.
On the second floor overlooking the courtyard, two balconylike passageways have tiled floors and railings made of decorative ironwork and cedar; one is currently in use as a library. The floor has three bedroom suites, among them the master, its bathroom walls tiled in emerald green halfway up, then coated with a traditional waterproof lime plaster.
The doors, door jambs and window frames are carved cedar, some of them adorned with copper or stained glass.
There are two mezzanine rooms in the house, one on the staircase landing between the first and second floors, the other between the second floor and the roof. The roof terrace overlooks the Medina, a sea of satellite dishes on old rooftops, several minarets in the distance, and Mount Zalagh beyond. On the roof are two rooms, one used as a laundry room.
Fez is considered Morocco’s cultural and spiritual center. It is home to the ninth-century Karaouine University, believed to be the world’s oldest, which today functions as a theological teaching center. The Medina was declared a Unesco World Heritage site in 1981. Fez also has a large modern section, but the Medina is the fulcrum of its architectural, cultural and religious history.
The Medina is conservative; most of its residents wear traditional Islamic clothing. But Westerners are frequently seen, especially in the spring during the Fez World Sacred Music Festival, which draws a worldwide audience.
MARKET OVERVIEW
The housing market has been slow since 2008, said Tim McTighe, a partner of Fes Properties, which sells, restores and manages properties in the Medina. “I’d say the glory days were between 2004 and 2007,” said Mr. McTighe. He and other brokers attribute that primarily to the global economic downturn, though they acknowledge that the regional political turmoil of the Arab Spring hasn’t helped. “Unfortunately some people put Morocco in the same basket” as Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, and other strife-torn countries in the area, said Mr. McTighe, suggesting that possible investors might be watching and waiting. “But Morocco is a very peaceful country, night and day with a country like Libya.”
Multimedia
Within the Medina, a Feast for the Eyes
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Despite the sluggish market, however, prices have not fallen sharply, because there are fewer properties on the market. “There have been some good bargains from foreigners who had to resell riads quickly,” said Mr. Sola. Mr. Elsener said it was a good time to buy, especially given improvements in Fez’s accessibility. “There are more direct flights to Europe,” he said, “and they are working to double the size of capacity at the airport. We also have a new highway that opened last June — from Fez you can drive to the Mediterranean in two and a half hours.”
WHO BUYS IN FEZ
The city has two distinct real estate markets: the Medina, and everything else. Affluent Moroccans tend to buy in the new part of Fez, Mr. Sola said. Practically all properties in the Medina are Moroccan-owned, usually passed down through families, he added. But when a foreigner does buy property in Fez, it is likely to be in the Medina.
The French constitute the largest group of foreign homeowners, followed by Belgians, with a sprinkling of Italians and Britons. Many foreigners buy with the intention of opening guesthouses.
BUYING BASICS
There are no restrictions on foreigners — “no nationality forbidden,” as Mr. Elsener put it. This house has clear title, an official documented history of previous ownership. In the Medina, only about 10 percent of properties are in that category, and it gives their buyers a significant advantage. “Nobody can come and say, ‘My grandparent gave me half of this house,’ ” Mr. Elsener said. “It’s a very safe transaction.” And without the title, the buyer might have been subjected to a lengthy bureaucratic process and a fee of nearly $9,000 in tax and legal fees, in order to obtain proper documentation from the City of Fez.
Because this house has already cleared the title hurdle, Mr. Elsener believes that hiring a lawyer is unnecessary and that a notary can handle the sale. Financing is available to foreigners from larger Moroccan banks, he said.
WEB SITES
Fez portal: fes-city.com
Fez blog: riadzany.blogspot.com
Unesco World Heritage site: unesco.org
Annual Sacred Music Festival: fesfestival.com
LANGUAGES AND CURRENCY
Moroccan Arabic, French; Moroccan dirham (1 DAM = 11 cents)
TAXES AND FEES
Transfer tax and notary and registration fees cost 6 percent of the official property sale price. The buyer also pays 5 percent of the purchase price to the real estate agency. Property tax is minimal, about $127 a year; electricity and heating run $64 to $255 a month.
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