Monday, November 28, 2011

Improving with the years

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This newly planted (or maybe newly severely pruned) tree caught my eye several years ago while I was doing my first roam of the Romema neighborhood.

The sandy yard belonged to a house that was being renovated.
Out with the old-fashioned doors!
(Little did I know that in 2011 there would be a Monday Doorways for this photo.)


The house was impressive, even then.
A metal roof, even!


Recently I passed it again; this time the place was surrounded by green.
The name of the landscapers is proudly posted on the fence.


Enter the gate if you dare.
Judging by the sign on the door, this huge house is a private one-family residence. Wow . . .
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Romema is near the western entrance to Jerusalem.
Founded in 1921, it was the first Jewish neighborhood built during the period of British rule and was planned as an exclusive residential neighborhood.

You know, now as I reread an excellent article by Aviva Bar-Am, I see that this house was built by the initiator of the Romema project.

She writes,
"Romema was intended as a splendid neighborhood of 24 houses, far from the noise of the town and situated between the Arab villages of Lifta and Sheikh Bader. Yet in the end, apparently for lack of money, just over a dozen beautiful buildings were constructed.
The initiator of the Romema project was attorney Yom-Tov Hamon, an expert in Ottoman law and land ownership issues, who was often asked to arbitrate disputes between Arab landowners in the region. When there was a disagreement about ownership of the land on this hill, Hamon decreed that the plot should be sold, thus making it available for a Jewish neighborhood."
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More about this fascinating area are under my label "Romema."
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This post joins tonight's Our World Tuesday.

12 comments:

  1. Thought you were talking about me in your title... Joke apart, never really consciously been to Romema, as far as I remember, thanks for sharing this, Dina

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  2. Hmmm... I like the old-fashioned doors, but they do look like they'd seen better days. Another handsome building, obviously for the well-heeled.

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  3. Fascinating dwelling...fascinating history! Thank you for sharing!

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  4. I like the way the bare tree looks and interesting seeing the impressive house finished.

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  5. Curious story and fancy house, I guess you will keep an eye on this building for future improvement...

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  6. Nice shots of this incredible house. And thanks for the information on that glass sculpture on my blog, I'm sure you're right about it being a Chihuly.

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  7. An interesting snippet of history Dina. Obviously someone there isn't short of a shekel.

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  8. Wow! That's an impressive looking house. They really fixed it up. Wouldn't you love to see the inside?

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  9. Found your blog through Martus (who commented on one of my posts). Beautiful photos; reminds me why I love The Land.

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