Just off Beirut's bustling Hamra Street, the unassuming two-storey building with weather-stained walls and scarlet shutters known as the Red House is dwarfed by a forest of modern tower blocks. It may not look like much from the outside, but the Red House is one of the oldest in the Ras Beirut neighbourhood, built by the influential Rebeiz family in the late 1700s. Over the years, it has hosted some of the country's most important political figures and a few celebrities, including jazz musician Louis Armstrong. Today, the Red House is one of the last traditional villas in Hamra, but its existence has come under threat in recent months after the home's current owners, descendants of the...
↧