2024-02-04 20:02:32
What a beautiful old house, we thought as we waited for our old school friend in the late afternoon. No comparison to the dusty apartment blocks behind King Abdullah Road, no comparison to the electronics stores where thick, heavy boxes were heaved in and never out 24 hours a day, and certainly no comparison to the post-modern lightweight construction of the Hayy Jameel, which has been there for three years has been offering exhibitions, workshops and an exquisite cinema program for years. You can also buy sweatshirts there. Printed on them is “Born & Raised in JED,” the airport code for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city.
This house is different. With its wooden balconies and delicate lattice windows, the Mashrabiyya, the Bait Al Sharbatly is an example of old Jeddah and “Al Balad”, “the land”, as Jedda’s legendary old town has been called for centuries. Built in 1910, the elegant, four-story building served as the Egyptian embassy for 20 years until the Al Sharbartly family took it over. The Sharbatlys are not just anyone in Saudi Arabia. They are one of the oldest trading families, having become rich by supplying pilgrims to Mecca and Medina.
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