“ ‘Greetings and salutations rest upon this mansion which increaseth in splendour through the passage of time. Manifold wonders and marvels are found therein, and pens are baffled in attempting to describe them.’ (The dedicatory statement of ‘Údí Khammár placed over the lintel upon completion of the mansion in 1870)

“This large and imposing building, which covers an area of over 740 square metres, was built about 1870 (over an old one-story structure built many years previously) as a summer palace for ‘Údí Khammár, a prosperous merchant of ‘Akká and the original owner of the eastern half of what is now known as the House of ‘Abbúd. The owners fled during an epidemic, and in 1879 the Mansion was rented and later purchased as a residence for Bahá’u’lláh.

“It was situated on a piece of elevated land crossed by the aqueduct which brought water from the springs at Kabrí to ‘Akká. ‘Abdu’lláh Páshá, the governor of ‘Akká, had a mansion immediately to the south, now known as the Baydún mansion. The whole area was known as ‘Al-Bahjá’, or ‘Place of Delight’.”

Visiting Bahá’í Holy Places, pp. 18–19.