So little has stayed from Istanbul’s Ottoman past as most houses that were homes to the locals of the city have been destroyed either by fires or urban transformations that erased the traces of its past. During the Ottoman era, most locals lived in charming wooden houses beautifully painted with bright colours of all sorts. The sections where men lived (called the selamlık) were separated from where the women lived (called the harem). Harem was where the head of the household lived with his wife/wives and children in contrast to where he hosted guests (the selamlık).
Today, there are only a few remaining examples of İstanbul’s Ottoman past and Serdar Gülgün’s house is one of them. Located on a hilltop overlooking the Bosphorus, Mr. Gülgün’s charming Ottoman Mansion was originally built for an exiled Hungarian Pasha called Macar Feyzullah Pasha in the 1850s. Serdar Gülgün is an interior designer who is specialised in Ottoman Art who went into a painstaking journey of restoring the Mansion, saving it from its ashes to turn it into the living memory of a forgotten past.
Gülgün has opened its doors to few selected magazines for the public to see the rich world he has created within the walls of this Ottoman Mansion. His home is a delight to ‘visit’ in order to see the rich colors, beautiful fabrics, antiques, objects and art work that display the richness of our Ottoman heritage.
Whenever I want to feel reunited with aesthetic richness of my ancestors, I glance into this rich cornucopia of the world Gülgün has created in his home. I think we owe him a deep gratitude for having recreated a past that is gone for ever with all its richness and elegance!
Serdar Gülgün also has two fabulous books called Ottoman Chic and the Grand Bazaar.
