Al Alawi House

Al-Alawi House is an example of residential architecture built with wealth derived from the supply trade that underpinned the pearling industry. It has Muharraq’s only remaining functioning wind tower apart from the palace of the former ruler, Sh. Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa.

Mahmoud Muhammad al-Alawi, the builder of the house, was a trader like his father and supplied goods to the pearling economy from his shop. This was close by in Muharraq’s main market, where he sold tobacco, rope, anchors and sail cloth for the dhows, fish oil, ground gypsum and caulking for their construction, and pearl diving equipment such as nose clips, collecting baskets and leather tips for fingers. He also operated sweet water boats which delivered drinking water to the pearling dhows. Merchants such as the al-Alawis, typically lived along the shore to be able to supply the pearling boats with essential goods during the season. And indeed, when Mahmoud Muhammed al-Alawi began construction of the residence early in the 1930s, the last decade of the pearling economy, it was on a site located on reclaimed land very close to the bay that once divided the islands of Muharraq and al-Halah.

The two-storey structure is the last remaining example of a once-frequent type of middle-class family home, consisting of a square structure surrounding a small central courtyard and with a corner wind tower.

414, Abdul Rahman Al Fadel Avenue, Block 214