Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé purchased the Jardin Majorelle in 1980.
The pair first discovered the garden in 1966 during their first visit to Marrakech. Fourteen years later, they bought the property to protect it from a proposed hotel development that threatened to destroy the garden. They restored the grounds and made the adjoining residence their Marrakech home, renaming it Villa Oasis.
The garden had been created by French painter Jacques Majorelle, who began developing the property in 1923. Its famous Cubist villa was designed by architect Paul Sinoir in the 1930s, and the garden opened to the public in 1947. After Majorelle’s financial difficulties and death, the property fell into neglect.
Saint Laurent’s connection to the garden continued after his death in 2008: his ashes were scattered in the rose garden. The site now includes the Berber Museum and the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech. A common mix-up is confusing the 1980 purchase with the 1966 date when Saint Laurent and Bergé first visited and discovered the garden.