Shangri-La - The beautiful mansion

Source: Carol M. Highsmith [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Shangri La is a huge Islamic-style mansion that has been created by heiress Doris Duke located right outside Hawaii's Honolulu close to Diamond Head. It is operated and owned by the DDFIA (Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art). There are many guided tourists’ tours that begin from the Honolulu Museum of Art and operates in co-operation with the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art. The construction of this beautiful mansion took place from the year 1936 to the year 1938. This was the time after the honeymoon of Doris Duke in the year 1935. For the upcoming sixty years, Miss Doris collected and commissioned artifacts for the mansion. She finally ended up having a collection of around twenty thousand objects. Renowned designer Marion Sims Wyeth has designed this beautiful house. An amazing artistic reflection of the Shangri La's construction is found in the novel Song of the Exile of Davenport. Back in the year 2002, the Shangri La Center for Islamic Arts and Cultures was opened to the masses as a museum.

The huge mansion is extremely well-furnished with furnishings, art, and beautiful in-built architectural antiques from India, Syria, Morocco, Spain, Turkey, and Egypt. The outer region of the mansion is a perfect blend of a Mughal Indian garden that features terraced water along with a private fishpond of the Hawaiian style. There are also portions of tropical gardens. Some of the other interesting highlights of the mansion include vivid Iranian ceramics, Morocco made ceilings, Syria imported intimate interiors, vibrant textiles as well as beautifully pierced metal works from India and Spain.

Shangri la is spread in an expanse of almost 4.9 acres owning an oceanfront point. The tour mostly begins at the Honolulu Museum of Art. The tickets for the tour must be booked in advance. It mostly takes around one and a half hours for a tour of the mansion. The tour of the mansion features the main house's public rooms, the other portions of the house including the foyer, the entry courtyard, the living room, the Damascus room, the upper lawns featuring the views of the playhouse, the entry courtyard, the Mughal garden, the dining room, the Mirhab room, the covered lanai, the Syrian room, the water terraces, and the pool. While touring Honolulu, you must book yourself a tour of the beautiful Shangri La with your family and friends.

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