Novelist Umberto Pasti, from Eden Revisited, talks about taste

My personal style sign My uniform is this: I have a cold outfit and a warm outfit. When it’s hot, I wear beige cotton pants and a blue cotton jacket; when it’s cold, a brown corduroy suit. That’s it. I have lots of jackets and pants, but I always dress the same way. I’m lucky because I’ve been living with fashion designer Stephan Janson for 42 years and he designs my outfits for me.

The last thing I bought and loved It was a wooden frieze from the 15th century, from an antique dealer in Tangier. It is about 20 cm high and 3 m long, and it really dances. A frieze is the connection between the wall and the ceiling; you see them in mosques and religious buildings. I keep mine in my living room.

The place that means a lot to me Rohuna, my country house, overlooks a beautiful valley in northern Morocco. I started building this huge garden and house 25 years ago and have since planted over 1,500 trees: oaks, strawberry trees, palms and plane trees. We now receive many visitors, which allows us to help our neighbours in the village. It is a beautiful place, I spend over six months of the year there.

And the best memories I brought home are the things I find while walking. Every day when I am in Rohuna I bring back a nest, a bone, a beautiful root, a dead butterfly or a small branch. I love shapes and textures. I can’t say I have a favorite because I have tens of thousands! My pockets are always full. I keep them in my houses in Tangier and Rohuna, where they are everywhere. It’s crazy.

I saw again David Attenborough’s documentaries, especially the Birds of Paradise episode. The seduction scene is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen: for a boy to seduce a girl, he turns into a dancer – he could be Nijinsky! It’s amazing what nature can do.

In my fridge you will always find salad, tomatoes, grated carrots – and not much else. I have a passion for grated carrots, which I buy from the market gardeners down the street from me. I like them with oil and vinegar or lemon, or orange and mint, like Moroccan salad.

I recently rediscovered Marcel Proust, who was an obsession of mine when I was younger. I’m rereading it. In Search of Lost Time For the third time. It’s not the only book I’m reading, but it keeps me company on the table next to my bed. One of the things I like is how you understand the book differently depending on your age and what’s happened in your life: when I was young, I loved all the love and jealousy. Now, I’m completely fascinated by social relationships. It’s so complex.

My style icon is the late Christopher Gibbs, an old friend and antique dealer. Martina Mondadori, founder of Hut magazine, which is not without interest. More than style icons, they are two people I admire. Both have evolved or are evolving at their own pace: Christopher in the 70s and 80s, and Martina today.

The best way to spend €20 It’s going to a bookstore in Milan, where I spend four months of the year, and buying a good book. Unfortunately, all the small bookstores are closed, but even if it’s a big chain of bookstores, I go there three times a week. As a writer myself, I’m always interested to see what’s coming out.

I recently rediscovered Marcel Proust, who was an obsession of mine when I was younger.

I laugh a lotand fortunately, very stupid jokes. And reading novels, mainly 20th-century British classics: Angus Wilson, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Ronald Firbank – that sort of thing. And then there is bitter laughter, which is laughing at the pretension of people – especially well-off people – and the way they take themselves seriously. But age makes you more tolerant… or more indifferent.

I don’t believe in Life after death – but I hope for happiness after death. I have always been an optimist.

The best gift I’ve given recently Here is a small collection of begonias for my Moroccan assistant, Mohamed. He is increasingly interested in plants and particularly loves begonias. The collection started with 12 or 13 species, but now I am delighted because he called me to tell me that he has more. There are hundreds of species of begonias. What amazes them most, more than their flowers, is their foliage: the leaves have incredible shapes and can be pale green, yellowish or dark green with white dots. The world of begonias is vast.

And the best gift I ever received It’s a huge whale skull that a friend found on the beach overlooking Rohuna. When I say huge, it must be 4 or 5 meters long. I hung it at my house in Tangier, which was very complicated because we had to find a big chain.

I have collections of There are so many things: Islamic tiles, antique toys, fragments of carpets, antique fabrics… do you want me to go on? I also have collections of ferns, begonias, irises and daffodils. At the moment, I am mainly looking after my collection of Moroccan wild flowers, which is perhaps the most important of its kind in the world.

The latest clothes I added to my wardrobe There were 12 shirts made by Stephan. I don’t buy often, but Stephan knows what kind of fabrics I like. I prefer to have 12 made at once because they will last me for years.

An object I would never part with It’s something I’ve been building for over 10 years: a tower made of ancient capitals (the upper parts of columns) that I keep in my living room. Right now, there are nine of them stacked on top of each other, including Roman, Byzantine and Marinid, an Islamic dynasty that ruled Morocco from the mid-13th century to the 15th century. It’s over 4m high and I’d like it to reach the ceiling. It looks like something out of Piranesi’s fantasy.

A pleasure I would never give up It’s red wine, which I drink when it’s dark. I love Italian wines. I’m not really a fan of Chianti, but I really like the ones from northern Italy: Barolo or something from Piedmont.

If I could, I would collect Oceanic art, which I’m crazy about. It’s so beautiful, crazy and free. These huge, amazing pieces are made from nothing with such a strong religious feeling. I have a few pieces from Papua New Guinea, but they’re too expensive to have more.

My grooming essential that I never do without It’s sunscreen. My doctor tells me I should always carry a tube in my pocket. I don’t have a favorite product, I just go to the drugstore and buy one with a strong filter.

My favorite room in my house This is my big living room in Tangier, where I keep my column of capitals and my whale skull, and where I like to read, chat with friends – and sleep. I usually have a very good nap on the sofa after lunch.

My favorite building There is a very moving mosque in Cairo, called Ibn Tulun. I have been there many times. The tower is elliptical in shape; seeing other cities from up there is something extraordinary.

My favorite app This is Windfinder, which I use for gardening. In Morocco, the wind is very important, not only for rain, but also because if we have a dry wind, it is impossible to plant and you need a lot of water. The best time to plant here is earlier than before: in the past, you could plant in February and March; now, I would not plant anything after the beginning of January.

The Artwork That Changed Everything For Me was from Botticelli Springthat my mother took me to see at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence when I was a child. It’s a garden full of beautiful creatures and flowers that look like jewels. I wanted to see the world that way.

When I need to feel inspiredI take a very long walk in the forest near Rohuna. The wonderful thing is that below I see the sea, but I walk in the shade of the trees. I look at the myrtles, the strawberry trees, the cork oaks, the insects, the birds and their nests – and then I think. But it is thinking without thinking: when you get lost in nature, a good idea can arise.

The best advice I ever received It’s an Italian saying. When I complained that things were difficult, my mother would say to me: “You wanted the bike, now pedal!” Be careful when you wish for a lot.

The House of a Lifetime: A Collector’s Journey in Tangier by Umberto Pasti and Ngoc Minh Ngo is published by Rizzoli at $65