The Lariha House: One of the Best Preserved Qajar Era Houses in Yazd City


The Lariha House: One of the Best Preserved Qajar Era Houses in Yazd City

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - This is one of the best-preserved Qajar-era houses, located in the Fahadan neighborhood in Yazd, which belonged to Haj Muhammad Ibrahim Lari and was built in 1863 or 1864.

According to the date on one of the painted decorations in the interior, the construction of this house was completed in 1869 or 1870. This building originally consisted of six houses, but only the main outer building has survived. The northern part of the house was used as winter quarters and the southern part, which has a spacious hall and wind tower was used as the summer quarters.

The eastern wing of the house was used as autumn quarters and the western quarter was the wing used in spring. The badgirs, traditional doors, stained-glass windows, elegant archways and alcoves mark it out as one of the city’s grandest homes.

A common feature of traditional homes in desert areas is that their basements are designed to perfectly adapt to the warm and dry climate of these cities. With the help of the wind towers raised above these houses, these basement areas had natural air conditioning and remained cool during the warmer months of the year when they were used as sitting rooms.

The rooms of Lari House are situated around the main courtyard, which has a large pool (howz) in the center and is modestly filled with plants and trees. There is a wooden platform with lattice decorations above the pool which can be reached with three steps. The owners of the house once sat on this platform in the afternoons, enjoyed dinner and spent time with the family.

The ceilings of this house have been embellished with mirror work and paintings with European and Qajar themes. The paintings branch out and expand outward from around the central chandelier and even band around the top of walls in rooms. Mirror work in the form of flower and arabesque motifs have been used to frame these paintings.

Most Qajar mansions have a Hall of Mirrors, which was a room designed as an artistic space. The Hall of Mirrors in Lari House is about a century old. The stained glass and latticed doors of the house combined with its mirrored rooms and wall paintings make this house an exquisite example of residential homes belonging to the affluent during the Qajar era.

Source: Arasbaran

Most Visited in Tourism
Top Tourism stories
Top Stories