Africa’s Most Photographed House in Nairobi is on Sale for Sh322 Million

The iconic African Heritage House in Nairobi has been put up for sale.

The property, which overlooks Nairobi National Park, is described as Africa’s most photographed house. 

The house is a combination of mud architectures from across Africa and is available for tours, meals, conferences, and overnight stays in its luxurious rooms filled with African art and furnishings with modern appointments.

It was designed and built by American Alan Donovan in 1989 and houses over 6,000 rare and precious items collected over half a century.

Although an advert posted on Knight Frank does not indicate its price, Donovan says the house that sits on 7.7 acres might cost $3 million (Sh322.8 million).

Donovan arrived in Africa in 1967 in the company of other explorers and originally wanted to experience Kenya and not to settle down.

This changed after he toured Turkana, where he saw a place of rich culture and collected some artefacts, leading to the birth of the house.

In 1970, he held his first exhibition of art and material culture from the Turkana and other peoples of Northern Kenya.

He then met Kenya’s second vice president Joseph Murumbi, who was a private collector. Together with Murumbi’s wife Sheila, they opened African Heritage—the first Pan African gallery on the African continent in 1972.

Donovan, 80, now feels it is time for another African art and culture enthusiast to look after the house.

“I am too old now and need to find someone who will look after the priceless items. I may go to another house in the vicinity and continue with my Pan Africa studies,” Donovan told The Standard.

The African Heritage House, which was declared a national monument in 2016, was the first house in Africa to be featured in the prestigious US Architectural Digest in November 1996. 

“The sale should not affect the national status of the house as long as the new owner does not make alterations in the design and will follow in my footsteps and my co-founders, former Vice President Joseph Murumbi and his wife Sheila, in preserving, protecting, and promoting African heritage,” says Donovan.