MAKKAH: Batterjee House in Jeddah is one of the most important historical sites entrenched in the memory of Americans who spent time in Saudi Arabia, as it hosted the first US consulate in the Kingdom.
The house was also the headquarters of the British Company for the Development of Petroleum Resources in Western Arabia. Then it was taken by the Arabian-American Oil Co., or Aramco, which used it as a residence for its employees.
Ibrahim Mohammed Batterjee, member of the board of directors of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News that Batterjee House was built in 1860, and was owned by Sheikh Omar Bajubair for 50 years, before the ownership was transferred to Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan Batterjee in 1909.
An old painting of the Batterjee House. (Supplied)
“Sheikh Ibrahim Hassan Batterjee made many improvements on the house under the supervision of an engineer from Makkah, who was (known) at the time (as) ‘the honorable engineer.’ These improvements included the balconies, columns, and balustrades made of molten iron and carved wood, mosaics, and concrete stairs covered with mosaics which were a rarity at that time,” he told Arab News.
“Between 1940-52, the US government rented the Batterjee House to be the headquarters of the first US embassy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. At the time, the US ambassador offered $10,000 to buy the house’s main door, which still exists today.”
HIGHLIGHTS
Batterjee House was built in 1860, and was first used as a private residence.
The building at one point housed workers of the Arabian-American Oil Co., or Aramco.
Between 1940-52, it was rented by the US government as Washington’s first consulate in the Kingdom.
The Batterjee House is considered one of the most important houses in Al-Sham neighborhood in Jeddah, which the ministry of culture is completely restoring to its original condition.
Batterjee said that the house is considered one of the most distinguished in the area, as it contains around 200 antiques and items of interest. It also contains the first Saudi phone, bearing the Kingdom’s two swords and palm motif.
He pointed out that Batterjee House has become a tourist destination, considered the first nucleus of the historical Saudi-US relationship, as well as acting as an incubator of some of the world’s biggest oil companies, which transformed the history of the region and the world.
A view of the Batterjee House decades ago. (Supplied)
The house consists of three floors, with the neighboring house also belonging to the Batterjee family. This second building was the headquarters of the first British mission to explore for oil in Saudi Arabia, and Batterjee said that the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage and the municipality of Jeddah were keen on restoring the pair.
He added that within the collection of items housed is a camera that dates back to 1917, 100-year-old printers, guns and glassware from the Ottoman era, copperware from as early as the 7th and 8th centuries, and coins of the first, second, and third Saudi states.
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