A long sand-stone arcade beside a still reflecting pool inside Dar Zilal, a wind tower above it against a clear blue sky

Within the Wallsa palace built by hand

Sand-stone, carved cedar and white plaster around a lagoon of our own, open to guests since 2017.

Masons from Fez, joiners from Sharjah and a lagoon dug from the shore: a palace raised by hand, 2011 to 2017.

Jumeirah · open to guests since 2017

Six years of hands

Dar Zilal means house of shade. Every screen, tile and vault was made on site, and we still close the arcades to cars at noon.

A joiner seen from behind carving a cedar screen at a workbench in a sunlit stone workshop

2011
The lagoon is dug
Sixty thousand cubic metres of sand lifted from the Jumeirah shore to let the Gulf in.
2013
Masons from Fez
Forty masons arrive to raise the arcades and cut the zellige by hand.
2014
Joiners from Sharjah
Cedar for the mashrabiya screens is seasoned for a full year before carving.
2015
The tower
Five storeys of stone on an eight-sided plan, the roof left open for Qamar.
2017
The doors open
The first abra crosses the lagoon in October with guests on board.

Cedar, plaster and stonemade by hand

Engraving of a carved cedar mashrabiya screen

( 1 )
Carved cedar
Eleven hundred screens, each cut from Atlas cedar by the joiners of Sharjah, so the afternoon sun falls through them in stars.
( 2 )
Zellige
Every tile chipped by hand in Fez and set face down, one star at a time, around the court pool and in the hammam.
( 3 )
Hand-laid plaster
White lime plaster, trowelled and polished with stone, carved into honeycomb vaults over the majlis doors.

Ninety-one arches

Ninety-one pointed arches between the gatehouse and the villas, lanterns lit at dusk. From noon the arcade belongs to walkers, and the quay is coolest here at three.

A long sand-stone arcade of pointed arches along the quay, lanterns hanging from the vault and bougainvillea at the lagoon side

A walk through the palace

Six places inside the walls, each a few minutes on foot from the gatehouse, or one abra crossing away.

( 1 )The Court
( 2 )The Majlis
( 3 )The Arcade
( 4 )The Tower
( 5 )The Orange Court
( 6 )The Lagoon Pool

The inner court pool fed by a stepped stone cascade under a timber pergola

( 01 )

The Court

A stepped cascade feeds the pool in the inner court, shaded by a timber pergola and young olive trees. Loungers are laid at seven and taken in at sunset.

Pool 07:00 to 21:00, adults only 12:00 to 16:00
25 m, heated in winter

A double-height majlis with low cushioned seating, a brass dallah and light through carved screens

( 02 )

The Majlis

The double-height lounge off the gatehouse, where coffee and dates are poured from morning until late. Most guests meet their room here first.

Majlis 07:00 to 01:00, gatehouse open day and night
Oud in the evenings, Thursday to Saturday

The quay front of the palace across the lagoon: crenellated walls, carved balconies, palms and the stone tower

( 03 )

The Arcade

Behind the quay wall, four hundred metres of arches run from the gatehouse to the villas. Seen from an abra, it is the long front of the palace on the water.