Mountainside magnificence

In the luxury ski resort of Faqra in Lebanon, architect Nabil Dada opens the doors for identity to take a tour of his rustic yet modern holiday home which includes an impressive selection of furniture and artworks

- AIDAN IMANOVA

“We bought this holiday home over 20 years ago, so we have a lot of memories here,” begins Lebanese architect Nabil Dada, founder of Dada Associates and the man behind a number of notable projects across Beirut, such as the Beirut Yacht Club and Al Amin Mosque. “I watched my kids grow up in this home. It's a beautiful place to spend both summers and winters in, and it's always filled with friends. It's a mountainside home, so we wanted to create a warm, rustic feel with a modern twist,” he says.

The Dada family acquired the house when it was still under construction – the core architecture was designed “by a dear friend”, Lebanese architect Assoman Tourba. The main feature of the house is its large cylindrical volume that houses the elevator and staircase of the building. The different spaces of the house were designed around this core. The living room and bar area features a double-volume slanted ceiling, which stretches into Dada’s eldest son's bedroom on the second floor – and can even be seen in his bathroom. To further accentuate its length, the ceilings have been cladded with long wooden strips. Dada says that a major renovation has been undertaken only once since the acquisition of the house – almost a decade ago.