GANAMET HOUSE

There's nothing to say: the neo-classical-inspired façade of this magnificent building immediately catches the eye. Built in 1920 by a national of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), it was acquired by Mr. Ganamet, a great Lebanese-Syrian merchant, who made several additions and modifications, which explains the surprising eclecticism of its architecture and the typical layout of the dwellings in the Near East. With its Ionic columns and pilasters, its curved pediment and the recurrence of friezes, arabesques and bas-reliefs under balconies and windows, the Ganamet house embodies the happy alliance of the oriental imagination and the Art Nouveau spirit, in a harsh tropical climate that usually favours a purely functional and austere architecture. Another aesthetic feature in the colonial Bassam is its mansard roof. As was customary at the time, the ground floor was occupied by shops and warehouses, while the two floors of accommodation were accessed by a staircase flanked on the rear façade, which opened onto a service courtyard comprising various rooms, kitchens, water points and storerooms. A distinctive sign of the period in which the Ganamet house was built was the massive use of concrete, characteristic of the third architectural phase of Grand-Bassam. It should also be noted that before ending up in gaping holes, its openings were provided by heavy doors made of imported oak, probably stolen for utilitarian purposes.