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The Rose House البيت الزهري | Beirut

An iconic 19th Century mansion in Beirut, which was used as a public art center from 2014 to 2015. It is now closed to the public. The Rose House is a 19th Century mansion in Ras Beirut. It was built by Mohammad Ardati in 1882. He built the upper 2 floors of this house on top of his hunting lodge – which is an older structure. The Ardati family and the closely related Daouk family lived in the house for the first few decades of the 20th Century. During this time, several dignitaries came to stay- such as General De Gaulle. The Ardati family leased the first floor of the house to several people in the 20th Century, including the British Doctor Arthur Dray (who started the AUB School of Dentistry and was murdered in 1926 in mysterious circumstances) from 1911-20, and the American Cultural Attache Russ Linch and his family from 1959-64. From 1963-4, the American abstract painter John Ferren lived upstairs. Before coming to Beirut, Ferren was a close friend of Pablo Picasso’s in Paris. He stretched the canvas on which Picasso painted ‘Guernica’.The ground and first floor of the house were rented to the El Khazen family from 1965-2014. The artist, interior architect, and designer Sami El Khazen lived and worked on the ground floor- transforming it into a world-famous interior while his parents, Sheikh Salim and Sheikha Margot El Khazen lived on the first floor. The house is now owned by the Jaroudi Family who will restore it and bring back its former glory.

Moreover, there is a movie about this house called Autour De La Maison Rose (1999).

Storyline: Beirut is under reconstruction. A surprising pink palace is threatened of being destroyed to be replaced by a commercial center. This ambitious project divides the neighborhood. As the personal stories of those living in the pink house unveil, the wounds and dreams of a strange postwar period appear.

2017 “UPDATE”

via @lorientlejour_olj ! The historical Maison Rose, which we were all so worried would get demolished and replaced by another typical rich man’s real estate tour, is going to be fully renovated and restored to its original beauty. 😍 The owner Hisham Jaroudi has kept his word and hired architect Jacques Abou Khaled to undergo the renovations. The house was built in 1880 on a 2800 sq. meters lot. Yes to heritage. Yes to protecting our gems. Yes to keeping their gardens around them. Merci, @lorientlejour_ol