Built in 38 days
An all-timber two-storey house put up in summer 1929 on Atatürk's orders as his spa retreat.
Thirty-eight days. That is how long it took to put up this timber house in the summer of 1929, once Atatürk had decided that the hot springs at Termal deserved his summers; the architect was Sedad Hakkı Eldem. What went up is a two-storey wooden villa under enormous plane trees, more a statesman's summer house than a palace, though the word 'mansion' stuck. Its interest is not its size but what happened inside: ministers and the young republic's leaders gathered in its reception halls, and in that half-official holiday atmosphere several early decisions of the state were taken, including the idea that produced a short-lived opposition party in 1930. The interior is kept as it was left: furniture sent over from Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul, Hereke carpets, Yıldız porcelain, paintings, a piano, a radio of the period and a billiard table. A member of staff will usually walk you round on a short accompanied visit and tell the story, so do not rush. The eleven rooms are small and the wooden staircase is narrow, so leave the pushchair at the door and allow no more than forty minutes inside. It became a museum after a restoration in the 1980s, was restored again between 2008 and 2012, and opens 10:00-16:00, closing on Mondays. Treat it as one stop in a Termal day rather than the point of the trip. The spa resort lies about 12 km south-west of Yalova town: 20-25 minutes by car, or around half an hour on the dolmuş from the town centre, and the mansion sits inside the resort grounds a few minutes' walk from the historic baths. Spring and autumn are the sweet spot, with the valley green and the hot water welcome; in August the plane-tree shade keeps it cooler than the coast, and in winter the steam rising off the springs is half the scenery.
An all-timber two-storey house put up in summer 1929 on Atatürk's orders as his spa retreat.
Hereke carpets, Yıldız porcelain, a piano and a period radio, kept as they were left.
The young republic's government summered in these small rooms and took early decisions here.
Gökçedere Mah., Kaplıcalar Cd. No:10, 77400 Termal
Do not make the journey for the mansion alone; a visit takes under forty minutes and the house is modest in size. Go to Termal for the hot springs and their historic baths, which include private-cabin baths suited to families, and let the mansion be a pleasant stop between them, a few minutes' walk away.
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