Sadu House History

AlSadu House, a traditional Kuwaiti house, was built in 1936 by the head of an affluent family, Youssef Al Marzouk. The house overlooked the seafront and incorporated four open courtyards with many Indian decorative influences, exemplified in the decorations on the wooden doors brought from Karachi, and the iron units on the windows.

The construction was supervised by well-known Kuwaiti builder Rashid Al Benai.

The house was built with stone using concrete to reinforce its structure – the first such house in Kuwait and at the time it sparked much interest among Kuwaitis.

In 1938 the house came under the ownership of Shereen Behbehani who added a new floor and European style fireplaces in the diwaniya rooms.

In the 1970’s the house was purchased by the State under the ministry of information and later was acquired by the Nation Council for Culture, Arts and Letters. In 1980 it embraced the tradition of weaving and became the home of weavings and textiles – AlSadu House.

In 2006, the building was restored to continue its cultural role of introducing and preserving the weaving heritage from the vast spots of the rural desert to the urbanized city. Its role continues as the conservator and guardian of the illuminating aspects of Kuwaiti heritage and social history, while still maintaining its initiative to preserve cultural identity and encourage contemporary creative artistic expression.