Ainab Visit, 13 April 2022By Julia Costello, granddaughter of Bill and Mary Eddy
During my recent visit, Leila Badre – the recently retired Director of the AUB Museum -- arranged for a wonderful trip to Ainab with our friend Nour (Minnie) Majdalany. Leila, Minnie, and I have been friends since the early 1970s when I spent several years working on archaeology projects in Lebanon; I have returned regularly since.
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| View of Beirut from the Ainab hilltop where the American houses were built (photo by Julia Costello 2022) |
Leila came to Ainab during Mary Eddy’s last summer there in 1973, and Minnie had gone up with me about 15 years ago. Recently, Leila connected with Shadia Shaar, a Druze woman from the village of Ainab, who was our guide and informant and was also commissioned to provide us with a sumptuous lunch at her village home. Her wide lawn was once the location of a nightclub where singers would perform on a small stage!
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| Shadia Shaar, a Druze woman from the village of Ainab, with Nour (Minnie) Majdalani in front of the Dodd/Dodge House 2022 |
The complex of American houses on the hilltop above the village is an historic landmark in Ainab, variously referred to as the American Forest, American Hill, and American Mountain (Jebel American). Shadia (who appeared to be about 60) said she once played on the tennis court at the complex when she was 12 years old.
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| View of the hilltop. The houses in the distance have been built since the civil war (photo thanks to Julia Costello) |
Visiting the remaining houses – known for their last occupants as the Eddy, Crow, Dodge, and Close houses (the Gordon house is gone)– was confusing as the land has been divided up and now each old dwelling is accessed by a different road from a different direction. The land between is grown over with trees and brush so it was hard to get my bearings. Additionally, all the houses have had renovations since I was last there in 1974, with additions of side rooms, porches, and upper stories.
Shadia identified them as I took photos (attached) and scribbled notes, but these may need to be corrected by those who know better. A map would certainly be useful. The tennis court is just a flat spot and I could not see any of the small toy-car roads that were built into the now-overgrown rock outcroppings.
Shadia knew the names of the American families and said the village had a list somewhere of everyone who had lived there. She reported the belief that when the Americans arrived in the 1930s “they gave life to Ainab.”
 Crows' "new" Crow's New House below the Eddy House. |
| (photo by Julia Costello) |
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| Close House in 1930s with Mr. & Mrs. Close standing in front. The Close house had the dramatic view of Beirut. (Photo provided by Ken Close) |
Villagers had helped build the houses, provide groceries, and deliver mail. Her grandfather supplied stones for the Close house.
Grandmothers and mothers of current town residents cooked and cleaned for the families and helped take care of the children.
There were other foreigners in town—English, French, and German (there was a German language institute)—but, Shadia believed, “Americans were the most intelligent.”
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| Eddy House, according to Bayard Dodge |
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| Kerr/Kennedy House |
Shadia recounted that the Americans paid particular attention to the village children and took the brightest to Beirut, seeing them through AUB with no fees charged. I asked what became of these favored children. She noted Dr. Kamal Chaar, an osteologist and uncle on her father’s mother’s side, was working in the US. Also Raja Hassein Chaar, who designed the “Phantom” (rockets?), was also living in the US.
The well-remembered Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, and Buick of the compound all disappeared in 1975 when the war began and foreigners left the mountain. In 1984 the Israeli Army occupied the hilltop with helicopters and troops; a very bad time for Ainab.
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| Small house the Crows built for their "Natour" or guard |
Shadia told us two village stories about the Americans:
NO. 1. In early years, many of the foreigners in Beirut were looking for a place to put houses in the mountains where it was cooler but still close to Beirut. This is mostly where the Druze lived. The Americans were the smartest. They obtained a sacrificed animal from the Druze and cut it into pieces. They took the pieces around to various places in the mountain area and hung them in trees. A week later they came back and inspected the locations. The piece hung in the tree in Ainab was in the best condition so they chose this village to settle in.
NO. 2. There is a sticky herb called tayuune that grows along the roadside. People make it into brooms to sweep bugs out of their homes as the bugs stick to the leaves. During the 1958 troubles in Lebanon, a local man was shot. They did not want to take him to the hospital in Beirut as there would be too many questions asked, so they took him to the Americans. Here the Americans made a poultice of tayuune, binding the wound. The man healed completely.
Shadia named the families who now owned the houses. All are Lebanese who mostly live out of the country, one in Australia. The Close house is owned by Ghazi Shaar, president of the municipality. She said that they all know that they own something special and historic. I can’t imagine, however, that they would consider any kind of restoration of the American houses. Having been to many homes of Lebanese, they enjoy spacious splendor with lots of light and high windows and ceilings. These little stone cabins of AUB families are quite different.
Minnie pondered all this as we walked around, cynically concluding: “The Americans had big minds and small houses. The Lebanese have big houses and empty heads.”
I remember the old drive to Ainab in 1974, winding up through hillsides of terraced olive groves. Now it is nearly solid with houses all the way from Beirut. The view, however, is still spectacular and the air clear and crisp. Pine trees – snober – cover the hilltop and the cyclamen is in abundant bloom all over the rocky ground.
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Dodd/Dodge House with
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