The city has always been a crossroads—of East and West, rich and poor, Christian and Muslim—with an identity that both literally and figuratively spans two continents…. Town and Country Magazine features in 2014 the Gülgün home, recently renovated using period furnishings and techniques that borrowed from Istanbul’s centuries as a trade entrepôt.
Over seven years Gülgün transformed the entire house with the aid of a family of expert restorers who also worked on the renovations at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul’s answer to Windsor Castle. The results are astounding: a bejeweled fantasy of grand proportions filled with a modern pasha’s collection of antiquities.
In the second floor, a giant ballroom laid out in the shape of a Byzantine cross, reveals more eye candy: a table holding a flock of taxidermy birds, garnet-dyed brocade sofas, and frescoed walls the color of emeralds on which hang ancient portraits of sultans and samples of Ottoman calligraphy in carved frames.
In a back study a pair of inlaid Syrian chests open to reveal Gülgün’s collection of intricately embroidered textiles, many of which could be in museums. But the most magnificent feature is the domed ceiling, which represents an imperial yurt. This is certainly not your typical hunting cabin.
If you can’t fly to Istanbul this weekend, wear a colorful Buchara Caftan , match it with a Sevan Biçakçi ring, at your feet Ottoman fur slippers and on this kilim floor sofa, admire the beautiful house in Gülgün’s book by Assouline Ottoman Chic.