"Bill was the first to truly capture the essence of this country. Everyone who came after walked in his footsteps," states Pierre Bergé. When speaking of Bill, Yves Saint-Laurent's partner is of course referring to the American architect Bill Willis. "We met him the week we arrived, in February 1967, at a dinner at the Gettys'," adds the French businessman. Willis had already settled down a year earlier. He had accompanied one of the chicest couples of the time, Talitha and Paul Getty Jr, on their honeymoon in Marrakech. He never left...
At 30 years old, the Tennessee native was given a mission by his friend Getty: to restore the Zahia palace. This was the architect’s first project in Marrakech, a residence that would successively belong to Alain Delon and Bernard-Henri Lévy. Later, the Bergé-Saint Laurent couple asked him to redesign their Moorish-style Dar Es Saada house that they had just purchased. Willis would subsequently take on the Villa Oasis, next to the famous Majorelle Garden.
Willis also designed the restaurants Dar Yacout and La Trattoria, as well as the famous Ricks Café in Casablanca. Thanks to his talent and love for parties, he rubbed shoulders with the world's elite, who clamored to secure his services. Willis's clients included names like Rothschild, Gillion Crowet, Agnelli...
"The Marrakech years"
"I've never met anyone as glamorous. Bill had taste and style that were extraordinary" confides Bill Strangi, a former friend of the American architect. His friends also describe him as a very fine man, funny and brilliant in social settings, with an unbridled penchant for partying. Gorgeous receptions were held during this time in the beautiful villas of the Palmeraie. Bill Willis partied there with the crème de la crème: Charlie Chaplin, the Count of Paris, John F. Kennedy, or Mick Jagger.
One man who was familiar with these grandiose evenings was perfumer Serge Lutens "In Marrakech, we laughed because we knew it was the end. Elsewhere, it was over, but here, we could delay the inevitable by thirty years. We had to enjoy it" he confesses to Vanity Fair.
In the last years of his life, Bill Willis never left his refuge in the medina, Dar Noujoum, nestled in the Sidi bel-Abbès neighborhood. His projects dragged on and clients began to complain about the architect's work. "The hour could turn, and he always had one last drink to finish" remembers Strangi. "To put it bluntly, Bill was an alcoholic and allergic to discipline. He did exactly what he wanted" adds his friend Christopher Gibbs. One day, he even hung up on the Baroness Marie-Hèlène de Rothschild, claiming that in Morocco "we have time".
Nevertheless, Bill Willis continued to host: "You can't say he was reclusive at the end of his life. There were always people at his place" recounts his friend Kathy Krigger. His crystal ashtray and glass of Jack Daniel's accompanied him until his passing in 2009.