Triple Arched House

Cynthia HobballahMitchell FahdTony TakchyRoy Khoury Mikhael

ARP 215TO: Mr. Fawaz Charafeddine

Location: House located in Zouk Mikael near the Municipality. ( القصر(البلديClimatic zone: The Coast.

*Altitude : 175 m above sea level*Distance from sea: 5Km

*Area: 3.08 Km2

*Population: Around 12000 prs

History of the house: Date of construction: The official date of

the construction of the iwan is not known as they bought it in late 19th century.

And they added a second floor during which they did not take full advantage of the area of the original roof of the iwan until the end of World War 1 in 1920 when they completed the second floor to become the triple arch house that stands today.

Owners: The lawyer Mr. Philip Salamouni inherited the house from his father Mr. Elias Salamouni.

He lives there with his servant.

Due to an accident, Mr. Philip is now on a wheel chair, so he is working as a translator at home.

Family Photos

Description of the House:Typology: - The dwelling is a Central Hall House. - In Lebanon the Central Hall House first appeared in the second half of the 19th century. - It’s a typical middle class, bourgeois house. - Most important feature: 1) Central hall.2) The three Arches.3) Cubical shape red roof.

•Due to its very old age, the barrel vaulted original iwan is not occupied anymore only rubble scattered on its floor.•The family’s original car is parked in its open area.•The iwan was full of square ventilation openings and niches.•It also had an earth packed roof which was covered by cement tiles as the owners completed the first part of the second floor.

The New Triple Arched House:

The difference between the old partition and the new partition can be clearly visible by the line separating 2 different types of stones and the decorations of cornices.

NewOld

All the openings are decorated with different types of arches and lintels.

A small balcony delimited by an iron balustrade in front of the triple arch is resting on four corbels.

An original stair case leading to the roof of the iwan was extended when they added the second floor to lead to the main entrance.

The Stairs

The central hall of the house gives access to all the six rooms of the house:•Kitchen: originally a part of the old partition of the triple arch house, it was renovated and extended by a small portion of concrete in the 1980’s. It also contains the stair leading to the wooden frame of the roof. 

•Office: it used to be the lawyer work place;

•Living Room: contains some old accessories and photos of the family.

•Dining Room: contains a 100 year old vitrine.

•Two Bedrooms.

Most of the partitions of the house were renovated during the 1980’s due to their poor state. The repairs done on the dining room’s roof are still exposed (addition of a wooden plate to cover the deteriorating structure of the roof’s wood).

As for the floorings the central hall paved by new tiles, the kitchen paved with marbles and the remainder of the house was left with its original cement tiles.

Interior Decoration

Furniture

Some accessories

Triple Arches that separate between two rooms.Triple Arches that lead to the

balcony: inside view.

Inside Triple Arches

BackyardA backyard which is only accessible from the central hall and the kitchen contains an old manual water pump linked to a covered well; some plants and trees. In one corner of the garden there is a small room to store lumber. The garden ground is stone paved