Photo by Micha Fallenberg
By Abigail Klein Leichman - March 31, 2016
Originally appeared here in Israel21c
The timeworn stone house was dilapidated and neglected. Yet when award-winning Israeli novelist and translator Evan Fallenberg saw photos of the structure two years ago on an Israeli real-estate website, he went to visit and decided to purchase and restore it.
Now, that centuries-old Ottoman building in the historic Old City of Acre (Akko) on Israel’s northern seacoast is embarking on a second life as Arabesque: An Arts and Residency Center.
Fallenberg will have plenty of company in the 300-square-meter renovated house. It includes three residential units that can be rented by short- or long-term vacationers, and a great room intended for literary, artistic, musical and culinary events in English, Hebrew and Arabic.
One of the reasons he chose the name “Arabesque,” after months of deliberation, is that it works in all three languages. Read More