Israel Seen – Villa Tiferet – Sharing Tzfat’s History
“The details are not the details. They make the design.”
Charles Eames, American designer
We love creative challenges. We’re not painters, sculptors or potters; and we don’t work with acrylics, a chisel or a kiln. Yet when we purchased an old home in Tsfat, we found our ideal ‘canvas.’
Here sat a domed, stone home built into a mountainside in the Artists’ Quarter of Tzfat. The building is about four hundred years old.
Its most recent incarnation was an artist’s gallery. White plastered walls, cold stone floors. Our footsteps echoed emptiness, rising way up to the two soaring domes.
Going Back in Time
Paintings had once hung on these walls. In the 60s and 70s, when the Artists’ Quarter of Tzfat was bustling with creativity, the house was frequented by tourists.
In the courtyard was a beit cafe, a popular spot where artists used to drop by, sip a coffee and chat about art, philosophy and politics. Before this, in the 1950s, the house was lived in by Mordechai Avniel, a famous landscape artist, sculptor and lawyer.
Pre-1948
But if we go way back, before the War of Independence, the house sat in what was once the Arab section of Tsfat and was a Greek Catholic Church. The whole block was an impressive cathedral made of quality stone. On one side stood the church, while across the road was a schoolhouse.
We know little about this time period in Tzfat, but gather that our section of the former church was used living quarters for the clergy (Our next door neighbour’s dome is higher than ours, so we assume the religious ceremonies took place there.)
Coming Home
So let’s return to the twentieth century, to an empty house whose walls have heard many different voices and languages over centuries. We wanted to preserve the home’s beauty and glory, yet needed to make it a practical, livable, modern space.
Our first major decision to remove the plaster from the walls and domed ceilings. Our builder brought in masons who erected scaffolding and then proceeded to carefully remove the plaster that had coated the walls for centuries. They chiseled and banged, soon revealing the most impressive stone underneath. They found hidden niches that were once cupboards and archways that had been closed to make smaller doorways. We found old iron rings high up on the walls that were once used to raise and lower the oil lamps.
The builders uncovered an entrance to a rubble-filled room that, if we were to dig out, may reveal yet another room. Such is renovating in Tsfat; one could spend a lifetime digging, only to find a network of underground homes and passage ways, a key to a world gone by buried by earthquakes and passed over by time.
Determined to stay focused on our project, we closed up the entrance to the old tunnels. We divided up the space into a kitchen, dining room, living room and family room. We designed the kitchen, choosing an open concept format and sticking to organic materials such as mahogany for cabinetry and granite for the counters.
In keeping with an antique look, we purchased a large cast iron oven with five-burner stovetop. There are wooden bar stools set along a raised counter so guests can sit comfortably while dinner is being prepared.
We pulled up original Moroccan floor tiles and carefully repositioned them under the dining room table and in the courtyard. We painted the newly exposed niches with colors that matched the stone tiles, gently tying together the palette of walls and floor.
We place a large wood-burning fireplace in the living room, making this a comfy retreat for those cold Tsfat winter evenings. Watching the shadow of flickering flames against the stone walls is a true delight.
The Details
Next came the smaller design elements. We headed to the Florentine area in Tel Aviv where we found exotic light fixtures from Syria and Morocco plus ceramic hand-painted knobs for the kitchen drawers. We added Moroccan pillows and bought Moroccan serving dishes to add to this style.
A Touch of Morocco
Moving outside, the courtyard now begged to be Moroccan. Pulling from décor books and fond memories of travels to Seville, we came up with a lovely design for the courtyard. Stone benches were constructed to hug the walls, while a stone fountain was placed in the center atop Moroccan tiles.
Our finishing touches were clay pots of lavender, rosemary and scented geraniums set around the splashing fountain, and brightly-colored pillows on the benches. We have since added more pots of herbs and flowers to give this courtyard a lush feel.
Tiferet
Upon entering the courtyard with the splashing fountain, sweet scents and flowers, one immediately feels as if they are entering another world, one of beauty and serenity. And so we felt that Tiferet, the sefirah for beauty in Kabbalah, would be a perfect name for this home set in the mystical town of Tzfat.
Glowing Sunsets
The house also has a beautiful rooftop with sunset views across Meiron, Tsfat and the northern Galilee. We have kept this area simple, adding a bamboo pergola for shade plus a few couches for sunset gazing. The roof remains our canvas; we envision more gardens here one day. For now, the colors of the sunset are so riveting, one could ask for little more.
From Family Home to Holiday Rental
Having renovated this home and enjoying it as a family getaway for many years, we felt we wanted to share it with others.
Three years ago, the home was converted from a family dwelling into a holiday villa that sleeps 14 in four bedrooms. Guests come from all over Israel and the world and are delighted to stay in tranquil Villa Tiferet, a special gem where history and modern amenities have been seamlessly blended. Our canvas is now yours to appreciate.
For more information follow this link: Villa Tiferet
