The impressive villa, located at 7 St. Luke's Street, which currently serves as a home for children and teenagers with special needs, was built about 90 years ago by Aziz Khayat, a member of the Kiat family, one of the wealthy and influential Christian families active in Haifa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Aziz Khayat
The Kiat family was one of Haifa's established Christian aristocratic families, and its name appears in many sources as owning extensive properties and areas in the city: along the seashore, in the Nahal Sheach area, in the city center, and on St. Luke Street.
Aziz Khayat (1875–1943), who amassed a fortune as an antiques dealer in Manhattan, returned to Haifa at the end of the 19th century but continued to run his business in New York.
In 1931, Aziz Kayat initiated the establishment of “Kiat Beach” (Khayat Beach, or “Al-Azizia”), a modern and illuminated beach, one of the most advanced in Israel for its time, located in the area of present-day Tel-Shakmona. The beach quickly became a popular recreation center for Jews, Arabs, and British alike.
In the 30s, he also founded “Kiat Orchard”A spacious garden of approximately 6.5 dunams at the edge of Wadi Sheik. The orchard included ornamental ponds, water channels, and shaded areas, and was considered one of the most spectacular corners of Mandatory Haifa. (Today, despite being on the municipal preservation list, it has not yet been properly restored.)
Aziz Khayat House
According to the architect Walid KarkabiAziz Kayat, former director of the Haifa Municipality's Conservation Department, wanted to build a villa identical to one he saw on Long Island, in the United States. He turned to the Haifa architect Life is hard., so that it would adapt the plans to the topographic conditions of the Carmel and to the local building materials, primarily the Haifa limestone.
The house, built in 1937, combines colonial elements with Mediterranean influences. It is made up of several two- and three-story wings, designed with strict symmetry and conveys a sense of completeness and harmony.
Above the entrance floor is a wide balcony facing Haifa Bay. It forms the ceiling for the lower portico, which is supported by six pairs of columns with Ionic capitals. Wide stone steps lead up to the building, making the entrance a real architectural experience.
Ramat Haifa Residence
Since the British Mandate period, the villa has been used for public purposes. First, it housed the Anglican Church’s “St. Luke’s” clinic, and later various educational and welfare institutions.
In 2007, the building was adapted to serve as the “Ramat Haifa” daycare center for children and adults with communication and intellectual-developmental disabilities.
The daycare operates in a community format of living in small apartments, and emphasizes integration into the community, independence, and providing a sense of warm and safe home to its residents.
Architect Haim Harry (H. Harry)
Life is hard. Born in Galicia in 1888, he immigrated to Israel in 1906. He studied at the office of architect Barsky, and served as a foreman in the construction of the Technion building in Haifa. He later studied drafting at the Bezalel School of Arts. After World War I, he settled in Haifa and opened an architectural office.
Although he did not formally study architecture, he received an architectural certificate from the British government. In his private practice, he developed strong professional ties with the city's various communities: Arabs (Christians and Muslims), Druze, and Jews. He designed many residential buildings, both for the Arab and Jewish communities.
Preservation with soul
The villa built by Aziz Kayat in the 30s, a symbol of the wealth and prestige of Mandatory Haifa, continues to stand firm on the Carmel slope, but in a new and exciting role. The building, declared for preservation due to its architectural and historical value, now serves as a warm home for children and teenagers with special needs.
In this way, the house succeeds not only in preserving the stone, but also in spreading a spirit of giving, humanity, and a lasting memory of multicultural Haifa.
Thanks
My gratitude is hereby extended to Ms. Amira Kehat, from the Haifa History Association, and to the architect, Elid Kerkevi, for the significant information they shared with me and thereby contributed greatly to the publication of this article.
Dear readers,
The articles in this section are based on open information published in sources such as Wikipedia and other websites and may include various historical inaccuracies arising from the aforementioned sources.
We invite our readers to suggest buildings as subjects for articles and if interesting stories are found behind them we will be happy to review them in this section.
Lovely, thanks for sharing.
The Kiat family is not mentioned, it continues its entrepreneurship, managing many properties in Haifa.
Congratulations! As a native of Haifa, where I also wrote about my childhood (Carp in the Bathtub), I greatly enjoyed the fascinating information about the buildings and places where I played and wandered!
I would like to know if there is an album/s that summarizes the information in the article and more? With thanks and blessings, Emmanuel Berger (former Haifa Transport 2)
A very interesting article, very wise, and full of knowledge.
You Jews know how to take, not give, instead of restoring Boston, you are just destroying and neglecting it. If it were up to the religious, it would be like rabbits rushing to restore it. You are far from preserving beautiful things. Only money interests the Jews.
You're getting carried away, Dad...you're using
In stereotypes
Anti-Semitic and it's not respectful...
😍There are ancient stone buildings in "Beautiful Haifa"✨️ that are unique and beautiful in their construction style…!!!✨️
*It is extremely important to "preserve" for the "history" of "Eretz Yisrael" = "State of Israel"… for future generations…!!!@@@
Personally, I would be happy to live in a "house" like this @😂
👀What is the "story" of the building on "Hagfen" Street, where the WIZO Association operated for many years✨️ in "Haifa"...???
😍We used to "host" many times with students in the "Girls' Project", who were given "added value" (extra) at every "female beauty meeting" - literally...!!!@@@
*Thank you to all the "workers" & "volunteers"🙏
😍There are ancient stone buildings in "Beautiful Haifa"✨️ that are unique and beautiful in their construction style…!!!✨️
*It is extremely important to "preserve" for the "history" of "Eretz Yisrael" = "State of Israel"… for future generations…!!!@@@
Personally, I would be happy to live in a "house" like this @😂
😍There are ancient stone buildings in "Beautiful Haifa"✨️ that are unique and beautiful in their construction style…!!!✨️
*It is extremely important to "preserve" for the "history" of "Eretz Yisrael" = "State of Israel"… for future generations…!!!@@@
Personally, I would be happy to live in a "house" like this @😂
😍There are ancient stone buildings in "Beautiful Haifa"✨️ that are unique and beautiful in their construction style…!!!✨️
*It is extremely important to "preserve" for the "history" of "Eretz Yisrael" = "State of Israel"… for future generations…!!!@@@
Personally, I would be happy to live in a "house" like this @😂
As a Haifaite who grew up in a special building and I would love to receive details about it, 1 Shivt Myun Street. The article about the Kiat house is very interesting. I remember the respected family in Haifa and the street located on the corner of Haginim Kiat, visible from the window of our house facing the sea.
Thank you for your response, you probably meant the building on Shivat Zion 1. Link to the article on the subject: https://haipo.co.il/item/513474
Very interesting, the story of Aziz Kayat, the active and influential Christian at that time... As my predecessors said, it is a shame that the Christian population is dwindling in the city and in general there is a lack of fruitful cooperation between religions...
Thank you for your response, indeed the Kiat family left an important mark on the history of Haifa.
It seems that the place served for a time as an extension of the Prime Minister's Office.
Important information about the city. It's a shame that the Christians in the city and the country in general are leaving and their numbers are decreasing. In my opinion, this is a great loss for us as a people and as a country because they are very high-quality. Maybe it's time for the country to think about how to preserve this high-quality minority, instead of giving all the opportunities and relief to those who don't deserve them, and for those who understand to understand...
Thank you for the heartwarming words.
Thank you for your response. I concentrate on the history of Haifa and its buildings and avoid touching on politics.
indeed!!!@@@
👀The keen-eyed immediately recognize the "Christian-Arabs" within the population of Israel... If only all "Israeli Arabs" were Christians, perhaps the "atmosphere" in "Avir" would be "ventilated"... rrrrrr....😭
Interesting and more connected to the buildings of our beautiful city
Thanks for your comment, have a good week!
The drawing of the building is charming, and the stories about the building's creation and its meaning enrich the Haifa community who sees the historic buildings for years without knowing the vicissitudes of the buildings and their use over the generations. Thank you very much, David!
Thank you very much for your response, Yehudit, Shabbat Shalom!
The problem in Haifa is that there are no longer people like Kiat in Haifa.
The wealthy and intelligent Christians will be greatly reduced and will be replaced by the people of the other religion who turned Haifa into a trash can.
With the black dress code, the crimes of vandalism and identification with the enemies of Israel
The city and Hadar are dead and need chemotherapy and radiation to remove the malignant disease before it spreads to other areas of the city.
Your country is guilty of years of discrimination that encouraged the Christian community to leave, and those who remain are seriously thinking about leaving the country, so you will have your religious people and their cousins here.
I was once told that there was a proposal that the villa would be the northern home of the president of the state in Haifa so that he could stay and host residents and visitors in the north as well. In the end, they decided that it would be at the Rotenberg House, but it was dedicated to educational activities for youth. They talked about the Hecht Villa on Yuval Street, and in the end, they dropped the subject.
Thank you very much for your response and the informative information, Shabbat Shalom!
Thanks for the informative article. Very interesting. As a student at Gordon Seminary, the one and only teacher Menachem Zaharoni took us on a tour of the orchard and knew how to tell us about it.
Thank you for your response, Shabbat Shalom!