The Ambassador Residence in Dar es Salaam
The residence of the Ambassador of Italy in Dar es Salaam, at No. 104 Kenyatta Drive, was built between 1950 and 1952 by Amirali Yusufali Karimjee, Minister for Industry and Trade of the then Tanganyika, a member of the well-known Karimjee Jivanjee family, which had arrived in Zanzibar in 1825 and established itself in the cultivation and export of tea and sisal.
The building was designed by the English architect Hastings of the Bransgrove company, in collaboration with Amirali Yusufali himself, who had lived in Spain. Architect Arrigoni carried out the project on behalf of the construction company Karimjee-Jivanjee Estates Ltd.
The complex draws inspiration from the Alhambra in Granada and from a residence built in Seville during the reign of Alfonso XIII. These Hispano-Moorish features are also highlighted by the materials used: glazed tiles imported from Andalusia, wrought iron gates and grilles.
Located in the Masaki district, on the short promontory separating the wide beach of Oysterbay from the Msimbazi inlet, the building is divided into two wings connected by a quadrangular courtyard, formed by twenty-three columns made of coral stone composite topped with capitals and wooden architraves, inspired by the patios of Spanish houses, themselves derived from Roman dwellings.
The building was enlarged in 1986 by System Construction S.r.l. of Ameglia, with the addition of a dining room, a sitting room and a square tower.
The front garden is dominated by an imposing specimen of Ficus religiosa, also called Abo or Peepal tree and more commonly known as the Bodhi tree, planted in 1952 by a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka. The rear garden extends to the opposite side of the building and is shaded by tall trees characteristic of African flora.
Among the personalities invited to the villa by the first owner were Prince Aly Khan, the Maharajahs of Baroda and Porbandar, the American Senator Adlai Stevenson, Louis Armstrong, Randolph Churchill, Viscount Boys, the British Governors-General Edward Twining and Richard Turnbull, the President of then Tanganyika Julius Nyerere, and Bernhard Grzimek.
After its purchase by the Italian State Property Office in 1963, the Residence hosted, among others, the President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Hon. Giulio Andreotti, Senator Giovanni Bersani, and the Undersecretaries of State for Foreign Affairs Angelo Salizzoni, Luciano Radi, Mario Pedini, Roberto Palleschi, and Mario Raffaelli.