The plane tree that was saved
The old tree the house was moved for still stands beside it, and it is half the point of the visit.
In August 1930 Atatürk stood in front of his summer house on the Yalova shore and gave an order the Turks still repeat with relish: the branch is not to be cut, the house is to be moved. The branches of a plane tree several centuries old were scraping the timber roof, and the obvious fix was a saw. Instead, tramway rails brought from Istanbul were laid under the foundations and the whole two-storey building was slid roughly five metres east (4.80 m, to be exact) between 8 and 10 August 1930. The house has carried its odd name ever since, and no other house in Turkey earned one quite this way. The building itself is deliberately modest: a wooden house of two floors, put up in just 22 days in late summer 1929 on the state farm at Yalova, restored and opened as a museum by the municipality in 2006 after decades of neglect. Inside are period furniture, photographs and personal effects such as the gramophone he was fond of, plus a life-size wax figure of the man himself. There is no kitchen; meals were brought in. Twenty to thirty minutes covers it, and the elderly plane tree that caused all the fuss still stands beside the house. Honestly, it is half the point. The mansion sits inside the grounds of the Atatürk Central Horticultural Research Institute on the promenade east of the town centre, a few minutes by car or about half an hour on foot along the shore. Entry is free, as is usual for municipal museums here, and it opens Tuesday to Sunday from around 10:00 to 17:30. One honest warning: the house has closed more than once for restoration work, so ask at your hotel before making a special trip. For Gulf families in summer this is an easy stop: the promenade is flat and pushchair-friendly, the surrounding gardens are shaded, and the sea is a stone's throw away. The upper floor is reached only by a narrow wooden staircase. Do not plan a day around the mansion alone; fold it into a seafront stroll or the drive out to the Termal hot springs, and you will leave with a story worth retelling.
The old tree the house was moved for still stands beside it, and it is half the point of the visit.
About five metres on tramway rails between 8 and 10 August 1930 - the whole tale is told in the panels and photographs inside.
Two timber floors built in 22 days, no kitchen, furnished with period pieces and Atatürk's personal effects.
Sahil Yürüyüş Yolu (seafront promenade), inside the Atatürk Central Horticultural Research Institute, Yalova
Not on its own - the visit is barely half an hour. It is an excellent stop if you are already in Yalova or heading to the Termal hot springs, and it suits families well.
The ground floor and gardens are easy; the upper floor is reached only by a narrow wooden staircase, so leave the pushchair below.
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