Name of Monument:

Sakan house

Name in original language:

Sakan

Location:

Rmeil, Lebanon

Date of Monument:

1850

History:

This type of house was generally a rural habitation until the 1950s. Today, it is part of the urban fabric of many towns, sandwiched between other properties on often narrow streets, or attached to new, modern builds.

Description:

This house is built on a principle of scalability, allowing the house to grow as the family expands, for example, without affecting its internal logic. Many of these houses can still be seen in Médawwar-Rmeil, Beirut, today. They are seen as 'heritage' houses, and are associated with the "triple arched" houses, which use the same fundamental basis. Many have been incorporated into the structure of new modern houses, coating the walls in concrete to create a new building and hiding the old sakan inside its very structure. The new, remodelled sakan can be identified today by its door, which overlooks/opens onto the main hallway and central shared room. The outdoor spaces in these houses are still built on the traditional model.

Citation of this web page:

Jeff El-Msanne, David Andos "Sakan house" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monuments;AWE;lb;10;en

Prepared by: Jeff El-Msanne, David Andos
Copyedited by: Flaminia Baldwin

MWNF Working Number: LB 010