Old Waterside Houses on the Bosphorus

Extract

During the last century-and-a-half of the Osmanli Sultanate, the patrician families of the Court at Istanbul conformed to a social pattern no less complicated than that of their counterparts in England or France. At least three separate residences were deemed necessary, and fashion dictated a seasonal migration from one to another at fixed times in the year. The konak or town-house (often in Șișli) was occupied only from the end of November until early spring. At that season, since temperatures on the Bosphorus were still rather low, a movement was made towards the Marmara, where the family usually owned a house on the “Prince's Islands” or at one of the coastal resorts such as Erenköy, Çamlıca or Yakacık. It was the warmer months of the summer which were spent in the wooden palaces and fashionable waterside houses on the Bosphorus. Demolition, decay and above all the disastrous effects of fire have in time played havoc with these fine buildings; but a dozen or so, which still survive, testify to the elegance of a milieu which had no exact parallel elsewhere, and show a happy compromise between the contemporary architectural tastes of Europe and Asia.