Nasseef House, Historical museum in Al Balad district, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Nasseef House is a building of about seven levels on Suq al-Alawi in Al-Balad, Jeddah, with 106 rooms around a central hall. Its north facade carries two stacked wooden bay windows (rawashin), and a light pavilion-like structure rises above the roof. The main stairway is wide with very flat steps, said to have let camels carry provisions up to the fifth-floor kitchen.

Construction began in 1872 and was completed in 1881 for Omar Nasseef Effendi, a merchant and governor of Jeddah. After the siege of Jeddah, Abdulaziz Ibn Saud stayed there from December 1925, using it as a residence and meeting place. King Faisal later bought the house from Muhammad Nasseef's heirs, including its library, to form the core of Jeddah's public libraries.

Locals called it "The House with the Tree" because its neem tree, growing in a small square on the north side, was said to be the only one in Al-Balad and possibly the oldest in Jeddah. The house later became a cultural centre for exhibitions and lectures, and a model of it is displayed in the Jeddah Regional Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography.

The building is easily reached on foot through the old neighborhood, where narrow lanes and traditional shops line the way. It makes sense to allow several hours for a visit in order to explore the surrounding area as well.

A fascinating connection to nature emerges from history: a single tree next to the building was the only one in all of Jeddah during the 1920s and gave the house its local name. This botanical rarity made the building a special landmark in the dry city.