Historical Tabatabayi House, Kashan, Seyed Akbar Helli

Project name: Historical Tabatabayi House, Kashan
Function: house Museum
Main architect of renovation: Seyed Akbar Helli
consultant of Internal architectural design: Deceased engineer Mostafa Moghtadae
Type of installations: Raw clay and brick
Air condition system: Natural and healthy air
Address: sultan Amir Ahmad quarter, Alavi street, Kashan
General area: About 5000 m2
Employer: The board of trustees in renovation and reconstruction of Kashan historical houses is leadering by engineer Hosein Mahluji
Executor: Seyed Akbar Helli
Photographer: Seyed Akbar Helli and others
Project Period: 1994-1995
Email: hellimemar@gmail.com

The historical Tabatabayi House, known as the “bride of Iranian houses,” is located in Sultan Amir-Ahmad neighborhood of Kashan on Alavi Street. Because the foundation stone of this house was laid by a person named Haj Seyyed Ja‘far Tabatabayi, it is known as “Tabatabayi House.” Currently, the house is in the possession of Kashan Municipality Welfare and Entertainment Organization.
The house was built c. 1834 on a 4720 square-meter to be completed.
In terms of form and construction pattern, the architecture of the house is comprised of a central courtyard, a small plantation pit, as well as including Due to the location of the house in the older part of the city, two underground aqueducts (qanats) formerly passed through the house. With numerous yards, the house has a total of five entrance doors.
The southern front of the courtyard has a pillared porch in the middle, which sits a little back from the edge of the courtyard, and a rectangular pond is located in front of it. The most important spatial complex of the house is on its southern front. The height of the façade is higher than other parts of the building. It has a semi-circular arch above its middle porch, which forms the highest point in the skyline of the whole building. In the whole house, four cellars have been designed, with different and varied decorations according to the placement in different yards and their importance.
In general, the house consists of three parts: an inner quarter (andaruni), an outer quarter (biruni) and the servants’ section. The inner quarter consists of a simple five-door room in the center and two courtyards on both sides. It also has cellars where the wind towers cause air circulation inside the building. This quarter was the residence of the late Tabatabayi family. The outer quarter includes the great hall and the alcove in the center. In front of the alcove, there is a porch with interesting mina-kari (mirror work) and plaster-work. On the sides of the great hall, two backyards and skylights/lightwells are built paralleling each other. On both sides of the alcove, “gushvareh” rooms are built. The servants’ yard includes servants’ rooms, servants’ basement, kitchen and winter and summer stables. A few servants’ rooms have been ruined.
The restoration of Tabatabayi House was begun in 1994 by Ostad Helli and lasted for about a year. Before that, a part of the building and also some roofs had already collapsed and the wooden beams had been destroyed by termites. During the restoration, debris removal, roofs lightening, and also the crib-working were done. The walls were underlaid and the drift of some spaces was restrained using tow wires. By placing jacks and raising the roof of the porch, the positive rise created in it was controlled, and also the termite’s infestation in the building was stopped.