Merolla Villa

Merolla Villa is a family house in Al Fuhais, on a 907 m² corner plot with streets on three sides: a 10 m street to the east, a 6 m street to the north and a 4 m road to the south. The ground drops about five metres from the north-east corner to the south-west, and the house uses this fall to sit on three levels.

The ground floor opens to the 10 m street. A short flight of steps leads to the entrance, which separates the reception rooms from the bedrooms. On one side are the living room, salon, dining room and bar, with the kitchen, breakfast area, pantry and service kitchen behind them. On the other side are the master bedroom with its dressing room, bathroom and balcony, and two more bedrooms, each with a dressing area and bathroom. Two parking spaces sit at this level in a court off the street.

The first basement sits under the ground floor and opens to the lower side of the plot. It has a second living room and salon, a kitchen, a master bedroom with dressing room and bathroom, two bedrooms and a guest WC. Two more parking spaces are on this level on the west side. The second basement holds the store, plant rooms and water tank. A central stair core links the three levels.

The house is a set of stone volumes. The main volumes are clad in large honed limestone panels (matabbeh). The stair tower and several walls are in split-face tobzeh limestone with horizontal chisel lines. A vertical timber panel sits between the volumes, and retaining walls with stone fins hold the terraces along the slope.