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Nassif
House
is
a
historical
structure
in Al-Balad, Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia.
As
of
2009
it
is
a
museum
and
cultural
center
which
has
special
exhibits
and
lectures
given
by
historians.
History
The
construction
of
Nasseef
House
on
old
Jeddah's
main
street,
Suq
al-Alawi,
began
in
1872
and
it
was
finished
by
1881
for Omar
Nasseef Efendi,
member
of
a
wealthy
merchant
family
and,
governor
of
Jeddah
at
the
time.
When Abdulaziz
Ibn
Saud entered
the
city
in
December
1925,
after
the siege
of
Jeddah,
he
stayed
in
the
Bayt
Nasseef.
During
his
early
stays
in
the
city
he
used
it
as
royal
residence
and
received
guests
here.[citation
needed] John
R.
Bradley,
author
of Saudi
Arabia
Exposed:
Inside
a
Kingdom
in
Crisis,
described
the
Nasseef
House
as
"kind
of
social
salon"
in
the
1920s,
as consuls and
merchants
gathered
there. The
house
belonged
to
the
Nasseef
family
until
1975,
when Muhammad
Nasseef turned
it
into
a
private
library
that
eventually
accumulated
16,000
books,
which
could
be
read
by
anyone
visiting
him.
Today
these
books
belong
to
the
central
library
of King
Abdulaziz
University.[citation
needed]
Layout
and
design
Nasseef
house
has
106
rooms
and
the
art
work
some
of
the
rooms
contain
is
admirable. Besides
works
on
wood,
others
on
tiles
can
be
seen
as
well
as
Arabic
calligraphy.
The
design
style
is
said
to
be
Ottoman
Turkish.
This
rather
describes
more
the
period
during
which
it
was
built
than
relationship
to
designs
popular
in
the Umayyad and Abbasids cultural
centers
at
this
time
such
as Baghdad, Cordoba and Damascus . The
style
is
thought
to
be
more
related
to
stylistic
elements
found
along
the
Red
Sea,
Egypt
and
maybe
the
Levant
at
that
time.
The
house
has
an
irregular
plan
of
rectangular
rooms
arranged
around
a
central
hall. The
main
entrance
to
the
house
is
from
the
north,
while
there
is
a
second
entrance
from
the
west,
that
was
used
by
the
women.
After
climbing
a
flight
of
stairs
onto
a
small
platform
in
front
of
the
house,
one
enters
into
a
large
entry
hall
(dihliz),
that
opens
to
the
central
hall.
To
the
left
and
right
of
the
entrance
hall
there
are
somewhat
smaller
rooms,
that
occupy
the
northern
corners
of
the
house.
The
west
entrance
opens
straight
into
the
central
hall,
while
several
smaller
rooms
are
arranged
around
a
small
corridor,
that
connects
to
the
central
hall
on
the
east.
Similar
a
group
of
rooms
occupies
the
southwest
corner
of
the
building.
Directly
opposite
the
main
entrance
hall
is
a
large
stairway
system.
Both
the
entrance
hall
in
the
north
and
the
stairway
in
the
south
jut
out
from
the
facade
as
large risalits.
Two
large
rawashin
occupy
the
front
facade
above
each
other,
connecting
the
two
levels
above
the
main
door
with
their
large
wooden
structure.
There
is
a
second
smaller
stairway
in
the
south
east
corner
of
the
house
that
may
have
had
more
of
a
service
function
as
further
up
the
kitchen
lies
in
this
part
of
the
house.
The
layout
of
the
main
rooms
such
as
the
entry
hall
in
the
north
with
the
two
smaller
corner
rooms
to
its
east
and
west,
the
central
hall
and
the
large
stairway
are
all
traced
to
the
floors
above.
On
the
fourth
floor
there
is
a
large
terrace
on
the
outlines
of
the
entry
hall,
while
the
rooms
to
the
left
and
right
are
built
as
lofty
structures
with
large
windows
that
are
covered
with
wood
lattice
from
the
outside.
The
terrace
itself
is
screened
from
view
by
a
wall
with
many
windows.
The
other
parts
of
this
level
have
normal
rooms.
The
fourth
floor
rooms
except
in
the
south
eastern
part
are
covered
by
flat
roofs
in
different
levels,
some
usable
as
terrace.
On
the
fifth
floor
the
kitchen
resides
above
the
main
stairway
in
the
middle
of
the
southern
part
of
the
building.
A
light
pavilion-like
structure
(kushk)
rises
above
the
building
on
the
middle
eastern
part,
thus
giving
the
Nasseef
house
seven
floors
(depending
on
how
you
count
some
of
the
intermediate
or
offset
floors).
This
was
used
for
resting
and
sleeping
in,
making
the
most
of
cooling
breezes
at
this
height.
