The Rough Guide to Fes

Fes and Dar Settash featured on Channel 5's Rough Guide last night. It was a very nice surprise to see one of our houses, Dar Settash, featured.

Thankfully Channel 5 have posted the Fes section on YouTube. If you missed the show look at the video below. See if you can spot our house!



Tags:
Morocco
Fes
Restoration in Fez
Riad

Follow the palm tree lined road......

Its been a busy ol' month here in Fes. We've been enjoying some glorious sunshine over here. Winter is one of my favourite seasons in Fez. It can be very cold so a winter wardrobe is definitely needed. But when the rain clouds disappear the weather can be beautiful. Right now, we are experiencing an unseasonal high, and it is much appreciated!

Not only has the weather been beautiful but the new town is starting to become a veritable paradise of palm tree lined boulevards. Last year the government funded the restoration of the main boulevard Hassan II. It looked good to start but the finished product is lovely.

The small red fiats are the local taxis. We recently found out there are 2600 for Fes alone!

More recently they have just finished reconstructing the main road leading up to the Kings palace. This road did not look so good to start, but they have done a wonderful (and shockingly fast) job. They began to restore the road only a few weeks ago and look at it now!

The brand new fountain!
It looks particularly good in the evening with an under lit fountain display that alternates through a spectrum of colours. We will get some pictures up soon.

We look forward to seeing the next project go through its restoration.
Tags:
Morocco
Fes
Restoration in Fez
Riad

Dar Rouah Pictures 2

After a festive Eid and Christmas break in Fez life is getting back to normal. The Christmas Lunch a la Terrace was a great idea, we enjoyed smoked salmon and burgers in the sun. After lunch (and chocolates) had digested (just) we made our way to Cafe Clock for a Moroccan roast chicken, yummy.

As promised here are a few more photos from the completed Dar Rouah. Pictured below are the kitchen/dining room and our spectacular halqa which links the basement to the rest of the house. To restore a house in Fes can be a roller coaster ride but when you can sit back and look at the finished home, it's worth it!
Restored kitchen!



Everything was constructed using old wood reclaimed from elsewhere in the house!

Tags:
Morocco
Fes
Restoration in Fez
Riad

Dar Rouah Pictures 1

After much anticipation here are a few photos we took from inside the house today.

Welcome to our House in Fes

Walking down the entrance hall of Dar Rouah used to feel like you were walking into a cave. With the help of some very shiny medluk and some down lighting the entrance hall now feels a lot more welcoming.



Carved and flat plaster was restored by our master plaster craftsman Abdelkader. The cedar doors and windows have all been stripped of paint and have been given a good licking with an oily rag.


There was a nice suprise whilst restoring the bartal. We found that the decorative plaster above it was designed to be back-it. Naturally we couldn't resist putting some light bulbs behind the Iraqi glass. We'll take some pictures in the dark and post them here soon.




The ground floor bathroom has been modernised using traditional materials and a luxurious bath and sink.


Our second bathroom is very interesting. Somehow this part of the house is sat over another. Our sink literally sits on one of thier ceilings. We we're kind enough to make sure that the dirty water went down the drain and not on their carpets.

The restoration process of Dar Rouah (and any property in the Fes medina) has certainly had it's ups and downs. Thankfully there are certainly more ups than downs which is why we choose to live in Fes and make a living for ourselves by restoring old riads and dars.

We would like to thank all of the craftsmen who worked so hard throughout the restoration.

More pictures coming very soon.

Tags:
Morocco
Fes
Restoration in Fez
Riad

Return of the Stig

The blog author has been hibernating over the last few weeks. The finishing of Dar Rouah and the commencing of several new restoration projects have kept us very busy over the past 2 months.

Here is a little taster of the finished Dar Rouah. We hope to publish some more pictures in a couple of days, once I've knocked the dust off my camera.

An old bowl we found in the rubbish cleaned up well!

Jenny and I have now finished restoring properties for ourselves. We are now acting as project managers for others who are lucky enough to own a property in this fantastic medina. For details of other projects please have a look at our portfolio page on our new Restoration Website.

Over the course of the next couple of months we hope to keep our blog readers entertained with more pictures and details of our restoration projects plus lots of useful information about restoration techniques in Fes.


Tags:
Morocco
Fes
Restoration in Fez
Riad

Dar Rouah Renovation 99% complete...and counting

Here are a few snaps taken from this week. The last couple of days have been really excitng at Dar Rouah as rooms really start to take shape. The house is 'so nearly almost complete' that we have even started moving in furniture.

Our carpenter's work will be
the centre piece of the house....


...but we are not going to tell you what it is yet.

Here's another clue


The main transformation has been in the bathrooms which now all have a lovely coat of medluk. All that is left to do is install the toilets. We've had our legs crossed for too long!

No, thats not the toilet!


Medluk is an excellent material to use in damp areas.

The zeliji is now repairing some
small areas that needed a little TLC


We hope to be able to show you some more photos in the next couple of days.

Tags:
Morocco
Fes
Restoration in Fez
Riad

Return to the Fes medina

After a brief break away from the summer heat, we are happy to be immersed back in the medina life.

Work in our house has basically finished except in needs a damn good clean! 6 months of restoration has left the house looking amazing but, as expected, its pretty dusty. And so the clean up commences.... The final stages are the most satisfying to watch because after the long slog of the core of the work it finally starts to take shape. Be ready for some excellent finished pictures in the near future. But to keep you going here are some dusty pics.

Tagine Bathroom looking like it needs a good clean up

Balcony view


The clean up begins


A local admirer of our work.



Tags:
Morocco
Fes
Restoration in Fez
Riad

A view from a roof in Fez

Apart from the thousands of houses ( all complete with their own satellite dishes) and the mountains, the view from a typical terrace in Fes is nearly always different. There is something new happening every moment. It could be women washing clothes, young boys feeding their pigeons or an acrobatic cat traversing across the rooftops.

As it happens the houses are slowly changing, month by month it is possible to see yellow rather than greeny-grey (in some cases more grey) as more houses are gradually restored.

Even the mountains are set to change with a new development soon to be built on Mount Zalagh, overlooking the medina!

Here are a couple of photos we took from our roof terrace:

A Moroccan flag in the wind


Some cats defend their carpet from
some evil looking pidgeons


Mr Wasp always wanted to be in television


A tortoise escapes from the sun


A young girl on her terrace

Some more pictures coming in the next couple of days.


Tags:
Morocco
Fes
Restoration in Fez
Riad

Builder's boots in Fes

At the end of the day the builders go home to see their families. Apart from some coloured tiles that have been stuck to the walls and floors and the fresh coat of plaster what else is left behind at the end of the day? I'll tell you: Lots and lots of shoes.







Tags:
Morocco
Fes
Restoration in Fez
Riad

More restoration pictures from Fez Morocco

A lot has happened at Dar Rouah since my last post. The zeliji is making good progress throughout the house. To date we have a terrace, a mensah, three bathrooms and a kitchen almost finished.



We have chosen some really interesting patterns which we hope echo the style of the house. When everything looks less chaotic (soon we hope) we'll be able to post some photos of the finished result.


We have began to prepare medluk. Ideally the mortar is left to cure for at least two weeks. The longer the mixture is left to cure the stronger it should be.


Mohammed sieves lime and sand to remove irregular pieces of sand and un-slaked lime. The sifted mixture is then hoisted to the roof where it is moistened and left to cure.

Tags:
Morocco
Fes
Restoration in Fez
Riad