The House of Home Garden

Addis Woubet and Home Gardens Project as partners are working together to restore the Mohamed Ali house.

Addis Woubet

Ethiopia’s first NGO devoted exclusively to the preservation and sustainable management of historical heritage sites in Addis Ababa . Founded in 2005 by Princess Mariam Senna Asfa Wossen, Addis Woubet is managed by a board consisting of local and international leaders of private, governmental and cultural sectors. The organization is supported by the Municipality of Addis Ababa, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the US, Spain, Royal Netherlands, Brazil, and French embassies, GTZ and personalities from the private sector. The Mohamed Ali house is the flagship project of Addis Woubet.

A little history

The Mohammed Ali House was constructed around 1900 in Addis Ababa. Minas Kherbekian, a well- known Armenian architect constructed the house to be the headquarters of the powerful trading firm G.M. Mohammadali. The structure echoes the diversity of styles and materials of the buildings surrounding it, exhibiting traces of Indian, Arab, and Ethiopian influences.
The restoration of this house would not only be of direct benefit the inhabitants of the city but also enhance the city’s urban landscape. It would allow the creation of an area of cultural activity in the very center of the city and contribute to promoting tourism through the enhancement of the cultural value of that setting.

The project

Create a cultural center for conservation and biodiversity in a historical building. Create a friendly and unique space: a small museum illustrating the diversity and richness of Ethiopia's biodiversity and where visitors can touch and taste the products, hear and see the gardens with multimedia system, a mini-resource center for information, a tasting area, loundge and a small shop for special homegardens objects.

A unique place in Addis Ababa, comfortable and modern built around respect for nature by exploiting natural materials diverted for the development of the place with new applications and to create a contemporary place that is open to the future.

Status:

The outdoor work began. The interior work will begin soon.

You can track online the progress of renovation site.