Halet Çambel Waterside Mansion

The waterside mansion, whose construction dates back to the early 19th century, is one of the earliest dated mansions on the Bosporus coast. There is undocumented information that it was built between 1820-1830. The building has been home to many families throughout its history. The building was last used in the early 1930s by Prof. Dr. Halet Çambel, one of Turkey's most important figures, and his family. Prof. Dr. Halet Çambel lived in the mansion with her husband Nail Çakırhan, winner of the Aga Khan Architecture Award, and the couple donated the mansion to Boğaziçi University in 2004.

Located on a 7936 m2 lot of land extending approximately 41.5 meters in the east-west direction perpendicular to the sea, the building has a plan scheme of approximately 16×16 meters in size with a central living room. The building, consisting of a ground floor and two normal floors, was built in wooden carcass technique and covered with a hipped roof with wooden eaves and covered with a-la-turca tiles. The building has the architectural and stylistic features dominant in Istanbul in the early 19th century. Apart from the main building, there are two masonry outbuildings in the backyard. 

Within the scope of the Restoration works, research rasps, analysis studies, and archive scans related to the building were carried out in the field. The building was cleaned from the contaminants. The foundation walls and wooden carcass are being strengthened. The original and sound wooden facade, floor and ceiling coverings are preserved, and the parts that need to be replaced are renewed in line with the directives of the administration. When all restoration and conservation works are completed, the building will be operational as the Center for Archaeology and Traditional Architecture Research affiliated to Boğaziçi University.