Architecture
Toufic Chamoun’s formative years in the U.S. ensured that he would invariably placegreater importance on living the future rather than mining the past. Having travelled extensively on business and attended various exhibitions and conferences throughoutEurope and the U.S., he was inspired to create his own version of the future for his homes and factories.
To build his factories in Tripoli and Beirut, he was inspired by the Bauhaus school of design which focused on creating buildings for mass production. This modernist aesthetic was stripped down to its bare essentials, and would prove to be ideal for his factories.
During his years in the U.S., he was influenced by the works of American architect FrankLloyd Wright’s buildings which were transitional—paying tribute to the past while defining the future.
He admired how Wright designed with inexpensive materials to build affordable homes using concrete blocks. This would serve Chamoun well in his career as he designedmachines for Eternit in Switzerland for producing fibre-reinforced cement products.
He was equally enamoured by Morris Lapidus who defined the 60s resort-aesthetic of Florida and influenced his aesthetic in building Villa Chamoun in Hasroun, and later in Broumana. He had a great admiration for Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe’s clean lines and usage of new materials such as industrial steel and plate glass, and a particular interest in Alvar Aalto modern simplicity, as evidenced in the Sabbag Center in Beirut.
VILLA CHAMOUN
In the early 60s he began plans for a modernist home in his native village of Hasroun. He acquired his siblings’ shares in their inherited family mansion, a majestic Lebanese stone house built during the Ottoman times in the early 1900s; and decided that he would instead develop a home for the future. He was all too aware of the realities of building a home that represented his vision of the future while ensuring it aligned with the vernacular architecture of the village.
He set about designing a villa that pays tribute to the modernists while maintaining its Lebanese roots. His fascination with automation, industrial production and promising new materials were incorporated in his blueprints.
He placed a great value on modern construction production and materials rather than just the traditional craft, which he respected but felt that it held him back.
The works to dismantle the existing stone house took over a year, and the stones were donated to local homes. The construction began in the spring of 1963, a two-year project to build a 4-story home and a modern way to live for his wife Marie and his 8 children in their prime: four beautiful daughters and their four protective brothers. Villa Chamoun was completed in the summer of 1965 and was inaugurated by Camille Chamoun, a lifelong friend.

The Inauguration
Villa Chamoun embodied a series of firsts: it was the first home in Lebanon’s North to be built with reinforced concrete, had a swimming pool, modern fountains, modernist gardens, a heating system throughout, garden tiles made by Eternit, laminate doors, etc… He designed every detail of the villa; from the indoor lighting fixtures to the external ones, and the furniture, which remain to this day. He created a separate service stairway to ensure the privacy of his children and guests, a means to access every floor and ensure the inner workings of the villa would not disrupt family life.
The villa became a 60s lifestyle beacon for the region and a platform for local politicians. Villa Chamoun witnessed what is known as the golden age of Lebanon in the 60s.
For many, this was the era of optimism and peace. Lebanon was named one of the most promising countries to invest in. It was the destination of the jet-set elite which paraded in the summer between seaside destinations such as St. Tropez, and the St. Georges in Beirut. Foreigners were flocking to Lebanon in their latest Yves Saint Laurent outfits only to find these fashions already on the dance floors.
The parties at Villa Chamoun became infamous overnight and were often covered by the media. The pool parties became coveted invitations, and late evening outings to the Arz festivals would always culminate back at the villa around the fireplace.