Name of Monument:

Courtyard house

Name in original language:

Dar

Location:

Saida, Lebanon

Date of Monument:

1850

History:

Older courtyard houses built with clay walls resting on wooden beams began to be replaced by concrete slabs with supporting walls made of ramleh, as we can see from this example. In other areas, such as Ashrafiyyeh, the old style was replaced with alternating sandstone and limestone-marl walls, a style known as ablaq.
The dar is built on a principle of scalability: rooms were added as the number of inhabitants expanded and thus the building was able grow without any changes to its internal logic. This kind of house became popular in the 1850s, and generally belonged to the city's aristocracy. It was specifically designed to be able to host the same family in the same building across many generations.

Description:

The central courtyard would include a water fountain, occasionally a small square garden, and would be separated from the street by high surrounding walls. This particular courtyard is accessed by a relatively low arched door. The main building (al dakhil dar, meaning indoor building) is north facing, whereas the smaller outdoor buildings (al-barrani) such as the kitchen, pantry and toilet, are generally located on the east side. The living quarters included a central living room and two square side rooms. The central living room is an enclosed shared space, keeping the inhabitants dry on rainy days and cool on hot summer days.

Citation of this web page:

Jeff El-Msanne, Julien El Khoury "Courtyard house" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monuments;AWE;lb;3;en

Prepared by: Jeff El-Msanne, Julien El Khoury
Copyedited by: Flaminia Baldwin

MWNF Working Number: LB 003