- Great Famine, Lebanon, Ottoman Empire
- Villa Mokbel restoration efforts
- Beirut heritage preservation efforts
Historical Sursock Street in the Achrafieh district of Beirut is a mecca for architecture and heritage enthusiasts due to its magnificent mansions and palaces from the Ottoman era. Dotted with pockets of greenery, winding alleyways, and small eateries, the street is also dotted with pockets of greenery.
The stained-glass windows of the Sursock Museum and the magnificent stucco ceilings of Sursock Palace, which are situated opposite one another, are well-known to the majority of individuals. These were the residences of the aristocratic Sursock family, one of Beirut’s seven founding families and affluent merchants with political connections to the Ottoman Empire.
A lesser-known historical gem, nevertheless, is situated on the same street.
The slate-blue Villa Mokbel, a former Sursock estate dating back to 1870, is concealed behind iron gates adorned with trailing plants. Despite this, a compelling photograph of the wrecked villa captured after the 2020 port explosion, which featured a mural peeping through a collapsed wall, elevated its profile considerably.
The explosion, triggered when 2,750 tonnes of improperly stored ammonium nitrate took fire, killed 218, injured 7,000, and left about 300,000 people homeless. After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the explosion was the third most powerful in recorded history, and its complete impact tore through Villa Mokbel.
“The Sursock properties were the first magnificent large villas on the outskirts of Beirut,” says Georgie Mokbel, the proprietor of the villa and the heir apparent from his father. “Architects from Italy were employed in collaboration with Lebanese artisans to fashion this distinctive Venetian-Florentine style, which was also slightly influenced by Ottoman elements.”
Mokbel further states that architects of Lebanese houses under construction or renovation in the hillside villages of Pasture and Gemmayzeh, situated below the more prosperous Ashrafieh region, started to emulate this style in a more modest fashion, retaining the triple arcade windows and red roof tiles. “Prior to this time period, roof tiles were not utilised in Lebanon.” This architectural fusion of Ottoman, Lebanese, and Italian styles is now regarded as the prototypical dwelling.
Excellent even after all these years
Originally, the villa that evolved into Villa Mokbel belonged to Alexandre Sursock. As a result of Alexandre’s branch of the family marrying into Italian aristocracy in the 1930s, the villa was listed for sale.
At some point (Mokbel is uncertain when), the opulent, 2,000-square-meter (21,527-square-foot) mansion, which had been purchased by numerous families, was subdivided into smaller apartments. These investors included Mokbel’s patriarch, Gebran Mokbel, a former construction labourer who later became a real estate magnate. Awarded shares in the villa, he was enticed by the opulence of its chambers.
The villa comprises three magnificent stories and features opulent marble staircases, triple arches, and ornate doors, as well as gold leaf embellishments on the intricate ceilings and a gilded oval glass cupola atop the stairs. The expansive windows and towering ceiling illuminate the stately main halls, lending them an airy atmosphere. And despite the mansion’s severe maintenance requirements—including the reconstruction of walls and terraces, as well as the restoration of ceilings—it retains the magnificence and aesthetic appeal of its former splendour.
Georgie Mokbel is particularly fond of the intricate details found in a number of the rooms’ stucco ceilings and cornice decorations, which feature scenes and symbols that allude to their original functions. The dining room is adorned with classical depictions of fruit, wheat chaffs, and cornucopias, whereas the entertainment spaces are furnished with gilded musical instruments.
The villa has witnessed numerous grand gatherings over the years; due to the Sursocks’ bourgeois status and political affiliations, they frequently entertained foreign dignitaries, nobility, and members of Lebanon’s upper class. It later functioned as a school and a film set for Appointment in Beirut, a 1969 film directed by Italian nationalist Nino Zanchin. Now, however, it is vacant.
A legacy of the Civil War
In addition to other conflicts, the villa has been marred by the 1975–1990 Civil War in Beirut, a violent struggle between sectarian militias that claimed the lives of approximately 150,000 people. Notably, the mansion was completely destroyed in the port detonation that occurred on August 4, 2020; its elaborate ceilings and stone walls collapsed.
When photographer Dia Mrad’s photograph, which was featured in Vanity Fair magazine and revealed a mural of the renowned Lebanese poet and writer Khalil Gibran peering through the collapsed walls, many would have caught their initial glimpse of the villa. Gibran’s solemn and melancholic gaze, which was fixed on the horizon, encapsulated the widespread devastation, as if he were himself lamenting the condition of Beirut.
The villa has been utilised for purposes other than that of a stately residence since World War II. Mokbel states that the state of Lebanon then requested permission from the villa’s proprietors to store grain in the basement “out of fear of a famine similar to that which occurred during World War I.”
Lebanon’s Dark Times to Independence
200,000 individuals perished during the Great Famine of Mount Lebanon, which lasted from 1915 to 1918. The Allied forces had been encircling the Eastern Mediterranean in an effort to undermine the Ottoman Empire’s war effort and economy, which had aligned itself with Germany and Austria-Hungary. A locust epidemic and the imposition of a prohibition on crops from neighbouring Syria by Ottoman Empire Fourth Army commander Jamal Pasha in response to the Allied blockade exacerbated the famine, which became one of the darkest periods in Lebanon’s history.
Following the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, Lebanon was placed under French Mandate rule in 1923. It did not attain independence until 1943, during the midpoint of World War II. The recently established government endeavoured to mitigate the likelihood of famine by implementing preventative measures in the event that blockades were imposed. Lebanon commenced hostilities with the Allies against Germany and Japan in 1945.
The arrangement to store grain at the villa was solely for that period of time; the residence was deserted, as numerous proprietors had liquidated their holdings in order to avoid further losses. As Mokbel’s family “forced them out with court justice” in 2000, the government ultimately converted the villa into a school for students under the age of eighteen in the early 1950s. Until then, the building remained under government control, as he explains.
Renewing Villa Mokbel’s Legacy
At that juncture, the remaining families were acquired by Mokbel’s uncles and father in an effort to finance the renovation of the mansion. Due to the nostalgic appeal of historic structures, they were becoming increasingly popular, and the family wished to preserve this magnificent example of Lebanon’s past. He states, “We renamed it Villa Mokbel.”
He claims that the structure was in a “terrible state” due to the government’s neglect of it for the past six decades. In order to restore the space’s functionality and usability, the Mokbel family performed some superficial repairs, such as patching war-related holes and applying a fresh coat of plaster and paint. However, a complete historic restoration remained a considerable distance off.
A few years later, Pigier University, the oldest business school in Lebanon, leased Villa Mokbel. The family, in need of funds to restore the villa, decided to convert it into a business, allocating a portion of the rental income towards the necessary repairs. The 2006 conflict with Israel, on the other hand, halted both the tenancy and any additional restoration plans, as the villa was damaged once more and the school was forced to look for a new location in the Hamra region.
The communications firm MC Saatchi fell in love with the villa in 2008 and presented an offer to undertake a comprehensive restoration in exchange for a reduced rental fee. The mansion was restored to its former splendour within three years, and the company remained a tenant there until the port explosion of 2020 compelled it to vacate.
An emblem of the golden age of Beirut
Three years subsequent to the explosion, Villa Mokbel is once more severely damaged. Unlike some of Beirut’s other devastated structures, it was deemed “private property” and therefore ineligible for aid, according to Mokbel. A local NGO, the Beirut Heritage Initiative, provided “a little assistance.”
In the interim, Mokbel has been inviting guests into the villa in the hopes of generating interest from a company interested in transforming it into a boutique hotel, restaurant, or event space for parties and other gatherings. “Restoring such a location is extremely expensive,” he says, adding that it requires a great deal of specialised equipment and materials that are specific to the restoration of historic buildings.
We Design Beirut, a new design fair for local crafts and talent, will use the villa – “an icon of Beirut’s golden age” – as the setting for one of its major showcases in May 2024. Under the theme of preservation, the villa will feature both local and international designers. In lieu of missing walls and windows, one of the components—a complex tapestry that replicates the villa’s triple arcade windows and ornate balcony—will be suspended.
The exhibition’s commemoration of Lebanese craftsmanship, architecture, and heritage may also serve to raise awareness regarding the precarious condition of Villa Mokbel.
Exhibition Aids Villa’s Resurgence
“They were unable to obtain support from the NGOs, so we chose this beautiful villa for the exhibition to give them some exposure,” Mariana Wehbe, co-founder of We Design Beirut. “As much as the design pieces on display, the villa will be presented as a living space and will be able to tell its own story,” she continues. “Many individuals were previously unaware of this location’s existence; therefore, it is fantastic that they now have the opportunity to visit it; who knows what may transpire as a result?”
Before a more definitive future is determined, Villa Mokbel continues to exist in ambiguity. While making every effort to repair, the family is also pursuing assistance from new sources. Mokbel maintains hope that an individual will recognise the historical and architectural merits of this legendary mansion and be inclined to provide assistance.
Destroyed historic structures abound in Beirut, teetering on the precipice of collapse. Following the Civil War, proprietors lacked the financial resources necessary for the restoration of these properties, leaving them to deteriorate. Many were demolished in the postwar 1990s so that the land could be sold to real estate developers; this was a more cost-effective alternative than restoration.
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Preserving palaces such as Villa Mokbel from this perilous fate has been the family’s generational mission.
Mokbel states, “My grandfather and father always considered the possibility of inhabiting this space, but they never did.” “However, I believe it is essential to preserve this house in any way feasible. It is a privilege to preserve and safeguard this historical artefact. Our family believes that ancient houses are extremely valuable due to their history and uniqueness, as well as their inherent charm.
“People’s perspective on old houses is also shifting; they recognise their value and are more interested in them now than they were twenty to thirty years ago.” “Whoever were to take it must also be deeply infatuated with it.”
