Ottoman Courtyard Houses

Umm Qais is an ancient site with many layers of history. The highest point in the old city - ancient Gadara - was the acropolis, today called the 'hara fouga' or high-place. This area contains the remains of a nineteenth-century Ottoman-era village that was occupied by cattle ranchers who were subsequently moved off the site in the mid to late 1980s. At present, the former village houses – some forty or more dwellings – are abandoned, displaying various states of structural failure following years of exposure to the elements, a lack of investment and the absence of guidance as to what their function should be. Nonetheless, this building complex has been described as the best-preserved Ottoman village in the region and is worthy of protection.

Turquoise Mountain’s project will focus on the courtyard house of the Al-Rousan family or Hawsh Al-Rousan, consisting of two housing units, the smaller to the east and the larger to west, with a ruined plot between. While the oldest standing buildings on the site date from the nineteenth century, remarkable vestiges of ancient Rome remain. The houses are built on the site of a Roman building and of Roman stone salvaged from the site. The site also has a Roman-era well.

The emerging project will sympathetically repair and rebuild the houses as appropriate. Buildings will be made useful with modern conveniences including electrical, plumbing and internet services, as well as environmental considerations to incorporate water harvesting and sustainable waste management. Outside, the terrace and walls will be reconstructed using traditional techniques, the paths re-laid and a new landscape created inspired by the traditional courtyard house model. Most importantly, the project will be a community-based training and employment project working directly with local stakeholders and in close collaboration with institutions, experts and interest groups at a national level.