Beirut’s historical houses rise again as cultural hubs

It has all the makings of a fairy tale: something beautiful, fragile and irreplaceable, saved from destruction by a painter with a vision. Earlier this year, the crumbling edifice of La Maison Rose, perhaps Beirut’s most iconic Ottoman villa, was brought to international attention after British painter Tom Young held an exhibition there, opening it up to the public for the first time in its nearly 150-year history. The overwhelming response helped convince the new owner, a property developer, to restore the mansion and turn it into a museum.

The story stimulated debate about the status of Lebanon’s vanishing architectural heritage. But La Maison Rose is simply the latest in a line of historical houses that have found new leases of life as cultural spaces.

Ravaged by 15 years of civil war, Beirut’s urban fabric is disjointed and schizophrenic. Crumbling historical villas from the Ottoman and French Mandate eras are interspersed with experimental modernist structures from the booming pre-war period and the business-driven monoliths of post-war construction: glittering tower blocks that would be equally at home in any capital city.

Beirut’s old mansions, with their roomy central halls, soaring ceilings and beautifully proportioned rooms, are no longer in demand. Expensive to restore and maintain, they are being torn down one by one, replaced with premium office space or luxury apartments. Happily for the public, a few visionary individuals are ensuring that not all of Beirut’s architectural treasures meet this fate.

Original article by India Stoughton

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Beirut’s historical houses rise again as cultural hubs