A 116-year-old mansion on Istanbul’s Asian side, dubbed “haunted” by locals for its dilapidated state, will have a new owner soon. Authorities will float a tender on Sept. 2 for the mansion to collect outstanding debts from the current owner, who is not named.
The three-story mansion in Caddebostan, a posh neighborhood in the Kadıköy district, will be on sale with an estimated price of about $24.7 million (TL 450 million), a price far higher than better-looking but newer waterfront mansions on the banks of 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,” 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, 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 (2906.5 square feet), the mansion also has a basement floor and a penthouse in addition to three 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.
Art historian Almila Yasemin Aktürk said the mansion needs to be preserved as it is an important example of civilian structures dating back to the Ottoman times. “It was called Little Dolmabahçe because of the intricate ornaments inside and outside the mansion, all designed and carved by notable artists and craftsmen of the time,” Aktürk told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Sunday. “Ragıp Pasha was apparently a man of taste. He brought in marbles from Italy and parquette for flooring from Vienna and built this rare, precious structure,” she said.
