İstanbul Kadıköy High School

The building was commissioned in 1884 by Alfred Frederic James Barker, a Briton of French origin, to an unknown Italian architect.
After living in the building for 10 years, Barker sold it to a Greek individual named Dimitri Veldemi following the 1894 earthquake.
In 1897, the mansion was purchased from Dimitri Veldemi by Mahmud Muhtar Pasha and his spouse, Nimetullah Sultan.
During the British occupation following World War I, the haremlik (women’s quarters) section of the mansion was allocated to British soldiers for seven months.
In 1956, the property was expropriated and transferred to the Ministry of National Education.
From 1957 onwards, the structure was used for educational purposes as Kadıköy Girls’ High School.
The structure suffered significant damage during the August 17, 1999 earthquake and has been out of use since 2003.
Following the transition to co-educational schooling in 2003, the institution’s name became Istanbul Kadıköy High School.

The structure is also known by the names Mahmut Muhtar Pasha Mansion, Marble Mansion, and Marble Pavilion.
The name “Marble Mansion” is attributed to the use of marble on the exterior facade and in the landscaping.
Electricity was used for the first time on the Anatolian side of Istanbul in this building, by means of a machine and dynamo placed in the mansion’s garden by Mahmud Muhtar Pasha.
The famous statue created by French sculptor Louis Doumas in 1864, which is now located in front of the Sabancı Horse Mansion, and the deer statues that have become the symbol of the Divan Hotel (one of Turkey’s first five-star hotels) were sold at auctions; they were removed from the garden of this historical mansion and placed in the gardens of their new owners.