The first house in the Rehavia neighborhood, Eliezer and Thelma Yellin, 1924.
The Eliezer and Thelma Yellin House is the first building in the Rehavia neighborhood. The paved road to the left of the building is Ramban Street and the path in front of the house is today’s Alharizi Street.
The building located on Ramban Street 14, was designed by the architects Eliezer Yellin and his partner Wilhelm Hecker. The construction was completed in 1924.
Eliezer Yellin was born in Jerusalem. He was the son of the teacher and researcher David Yellin and his wife Ita. In 1907, he went to study architecture in Germany where he met and befriended the German Jewish architect Wilhelm Hecker. Both served together in the First World War in the Ottoman Engineering Corps. They built roads, highways, railways, and bridges together.
In 1920, Yellin and Hecker founded an architecture office in Jerusalem and became the first planners and builders of the Rehavia neighborhood. They also designed other buildings in Jerusalem, such as the David Yellin College, the Ohel Yitzchak Synagogue in Kiryat Moshe, Beit Gad Fromkin at the corner of Ramban and Ibn Ezra – today’s Netzaz Israel Synagogue, and more.
In 1921, Eliezer married Thelma, born in England, who came from a distinct Zionist family, a talented, world-renowned cellist.
The construction of the house was completed in 1924 and soon became a social and artistic center during the Mandate days. Professors from the Hebrew University alongside senior British government officials, and world-renowned leading musicians gathered in Eliezer and Thelma’s living room to attend concerts by chamber ensembles from around the world.
In 1936, the Yellin family was forced to sell the house due to the financial difficulties of the architecture firm they managed together with Wilhelm Hecker.
In 1950, a friend of the Yellin couple, Dr. Konikov, and his wife Carmel purchased the house. They preserved the house, its windows, doors, and interior.
Eliezer Yellin served as a member of the Israeli Committee of Architects. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Association for Jerusalem and a member of the Rehavia Neighborhood Committee. Yellin died unexpectedly in 1945, at the age of 57.
The house was preserved for decades, and in 2015, it was purchased by a foreign resident.
A request was submitted to add two floors to Tama 38 while demolishing the historic building and preserving the facades.
The request triggered great opposition on behalf of the members of the Yellin family, the neighborhood’s residents, and the Council for the Preservation of Sites. The plan to restructure the building was frozen, but the last word on the matter has not yet been said.
This is our Jerusalem — the first building in the Rehavia neighborhood, Ramban Street as a country road, without traffic jams and no parking spaces. Rough hills around what would later become the aristocracy and elite neighborhood of the city. A cello concerto with British officials, alongside Jewish professors from the Hebrew University, preservation efforts against the financial aristocracy, vision and history in
the making, spectacular buildings in need of preservation, and a reminder of the delicate balance between the glorious past and the renewal of the city.
Shabbat of peace to the far and near from Jerusalem
Photo – אמנון רמון
