Ragıp Paşa Mansion, locally known as the “Haunted Mansion” for its dilapidated state, was sold to a major lender on Friday for $24.7 million (TL 449.3 million).
Türkiye Iş Bankası paid only TL 8 higher than the opening price for the mansion, which was sold in a public tender in Istanbul. The mansion’s last owner had outstanding debts, forcing a court-approved sale of the mansion located in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district. Lawyers for the unnamed owner, on the other hand, will file an appeal against the sale on Monday, media outlets reported.
The 116-year-old mansion on Istanbul’s Asian side is located in Caddebostan, a posh neighborhood of Kadıköy. The three-story mansion fetched a price far higher than better-looking and newer waterfront mansions on the banks of the Bosporus. After being vacant for years, even the facade of the mansion appears to be in need of a comprehensive restoration but experts say that once restored, it can earn its fame back as “Little Dolmabahçe,” named after the splendid Ottoman-era palace on the European side of Istanbul.
The mansion was initially known as Ragıp Pasha Mansion, after “başmabeynci” or aide-de-camp to Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II. The pasha hired August Carl Friedrich Jasmund, the Prussian architect of Sirkeci train station, for the construction of the mansion, which was completed in 1906. In time, the mansion, sprawling across a garden of about 23 acres, became one of the landmarks of Kadıköy.
Covering an area of 2,700 square meters (29,065 square feet), the mansion also has a basement and a penthouse in addition to the three main floors. A good example of late Ottoman architecture, the mansion is also famous for its interior and exterior ornamental motifs and paintings on its ceilings. Another highlight of the building is the golden leaves adorning the ceilings, which are made of melted gold. The mansion has changed hands over the years after the death of Ragıp Pasha there in 1920.
