Abandoned Mansion - Beirut, Lebanon

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Pictures used with permission from http://www.flickr.com/photos/poisonbabyfood/sets/72157605809745364/

I saw this abandoned mansion last week from the street and went in with my friend Michel as translator in case we ran into anyone. It took a bit of jimmying to force the door, and inside we found piles and piles of of binders and dozens of black and white photos, all showing one man at various political events.

It turns out the mansion used to be the home of Takieddin el-Solh ( 1908 - 1988) Lebanese Sunni politician who served as Prime Minister from 1973-74, and 1980. The binders were full of voter lists and various political documents. I'm assuming he abandoned the place during the civil war and moved to a more secure location. The house is in the Sunni section, but was within easy artillery distance of the Green Line.

A few minutes after entering, a very large and very humorless Lebanese man showed up out of the bowels of the place and told us we could either leave or talk the Lebanese Security Forces. The place was right next to Saad Hariri's FutureTV headquarters, which Hizbollah set on fire last year, and they view anyone with a camera here as possible threat, especially big flashy DSLRs. His stated authority might or might not have been bullshit, but we managed to talk him into giving us 20 minutes (I've gone back, of course, but more slyly).

These things used to be belong to the Prime Minister of Lebanon, and he abandoned while the city tore itself to shreds during the war. Finding things like this is why I explore.

Picture Below

So upon venturing inside we found two things: piles and piles of of binders, and dozens of black and white photos, all showing one man at various political events.

It turns out the mansion used to be the home of Takieddin el-Solh (born 1908, Sidon, Lebanon; died November 27, 1988, Paris) Lebanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1973-74, and again briefly in 1980. The binders were full of voter lists and various political documents. I'm assuming he abandoned the place during the civil war and moved to a more secure location. The house is in the Sunni section, but was within easy artillery distance of the Green Line.

These are from the prime minister's photo albums. This is why I explore.

So upon venturing inside we found two things: piles and piles of of binders, and dozens of black and white photos, all showing one man at various political events.

It turns out the mansion used to be the home of Takieddin el-Solh (born 1908, Sidon, Lebanon; died November 27, 1988, Paris) Lebanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1973-74, and again briefly in 1980. The binders were full of voter lists and various political documents. I'm assuming he abandoned the place during the civil war and moved to a more secure location. The house is in the Sunni section, but was within easy artillery distance of the Green Line.

Upstairs, all we found were his books and his desk. This is the Prime Minister's desk. This is why I explore.

An attempt to diffuse the light coming through the window...

So upon venturing inside we found two things: piles and piles of of binders, and dozens of black and white photos, all showing one man at various political events.

It turns out the mansion used to be the home of Takieddin el-Solh (born 1908, Sidon, Lebanon; died November 27, 1988, Paris) Lebanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1973-74, and again briefly in 1980.The binders were full of voter lists and various political documents. I'm assuming he abandoned the place during the civil war and moved to a more secure location. The house is in the Sunni section, but was within easy artillery distance of the Green Line.

Upstairs, all we found were his books and his desk. This looks like one of the bedrooms.

For some reason, in el Solh's house, the floors in this room were filled with clay pots. I couldn't figure it out. I wonder what's inside?

Bookshelf formerly belonging to Takieddin el-Solh (born 1908, Sidon, Lebanon; died November 27, 1988, Paris) Lebanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1973-74, and again briefly in 1980.

So upon venturing inside we found two things: piles and piles of of binders, and dozens of black and white photos, all showing one man at various political events.

It turns out the mansion used to be the home of Takieddin el-Solh (born 1908, Sidon, Lebanon; died November 27, 1988, Paris) Lebanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1973-74, and again briefly in 1980. The binders were full of voter lists and various political documents. I'm assuming he abandoned the place during the civil war and moved to a more secure location. The house is in the Sunni section, but was within easy artillery distance of the Green Line.

Upstairs, all we found were his books and his desk. His bookshelf was full of political treatises, with particular emphasis, as would stand to reason, on Lebanon and the Middle East.

This is the prime minister's book collection. This is why I explore.

So upon venturing inside we found two things: piles and piles of of binders, and dozens of black and white photos, all showing one man at various political events.

It turns out the mansion used to be the home of Takieddin el-Solh (born 1908, Sidon, Lebanon; died November 27, 1988, Paris) Lebanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1973-74, and again briefly in 1980. The binders were full of voter lists and various political documents. I'm assuming he abandoned the place during the civil war and moved to a more secure location. The house is in the Sunni section, but was within easy artillery distance of the Green Line.

Upstairs, all we found were his books and his desk. This is a small sitting room off the attic.

I discovered this mansion in the Hamra area of Beirut this week. These are a study I did of the entrances, various angles and color saturations, trying to get the best fit.

When I went in, I discovered something interesting. But more on that to come.

This is part of the trouble with urbexing in Beirut. None of the buildings are really abandoned. All of them are full of squatters. Here, for some reason, whoever had taken over part of el Solh's house had killed a rabbit and placed it in a tree.

View walking up to el Solh's house after scaling the wall surrounding.

Upon venturing inside we found two things: piles and piles of of binders, and dozens of black and white photos, all showing one man at various political events.

It turns out the mansion used to be the home of Takieddin el-Solh (born 1908, Sidon, Lebanon; died November 27, 1988, Paris) Lebanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1973-74, and again briefly in 1980. The binders were full of voter lists and various political documents. I'm assuming he abandoned the place during the civil war and moved to a more secure location. The house is in the Sunni section, but was within easy artillery distance of the Green Line.

You don't really get a sense of how rich el Solh must have been. His property encompasses half a city block, surrounded by a 10 foot stone wall.

The kitchen. I think this stuff was left later by squatters (The peaches expired in 1988). Yes, I took the diver man. No, there was no whiskey left in the bottles.

A little hidey-hole. Don't know what it was for.

The kitchen. I think this stuff was left later by squatters (The peaches expired in 1988). Yes, I took the diver man. No, there was no whiskey left in the bottles.

To contact Abandoned But Not Forgotten please e-mail us at abnfco@gmail.com with any questions or submissions you may want to contribute to the site.

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