French ambassador house, Diplomatic residence in Tel Aviv, Israel
The French Ambassador's House, also known as Beit Abed al-Rahim, stands at 1 Toulouse Street in the Givat Aliyah neighbourhood of Jaffa. Architect Yitzhak Rapoport designed it in 1935 in the International Style with Art Deco and Eastern motifs, on 800 square metres. A three-car garage was built beneath the house, and a garden with an ornamental pool surrounds it.
Architect Isaac Rapoport designed the house for Mohammed Abdeh al-Rahim, a notable of Jaffa known as "Abu Hassan". Construction began in 1935 at a cost of 50,000 pounds sterling and continued through the 1936–39 disturbances. Al-Rahim left for Beirut at the outbreak of the 1948 war, leaving Rapoport power of attorney over his property; in 1949 Rapoport sold the building to the French government, which has used it as its ambassador's residence ever since.
The house is named after Mohammed Abdeh al-Rahim, known as "Abu Hassan", a leader of Jaffa's Arab community who commissioned it. His friend, the architect Isaac Rapoport, held power of attorney over his property and sold the building to the French government in 1949; in 1954 he handed al-Rahim two suitcases with the proceeds at the port of Naples.
The building is located at Toulouse Street number 1 near Gan Tolosa garden and is easy to find. Access to the interior is restricted to official diplomatic functions, but the exterior can be viewed from the street.
The house was built for Mohammed Abdeh al-Rahim, a Jaffa notable known as "Abu Hassan", who fled to Beirut in 1948 and left architect Isaac Rapoport power of attorney over all his property. In 1954 Rapoport met him at the port of Naples and handed him two suitcases holding the full proceeds of the 1949 sale to the French government.
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