Mr Alan Donovan, founder of African Heritage House next to the iconic building. It has been gazetted as a heritage site and is maintained by the National Museums of Kenya.
If you want to combine the love of art and excitement of watching wildlife, then the second floor of African Heritage House is the place to be.
The iconic building at Athi River offers its visitors some of the best views of the Nairobi National Park.
Every so often, a loud cargo train chugs its way past the AHH, as the Heritage house is popularly known, lending a charming, rustic feel to the otherwise raw wilderness.
It is breathtaking, despite the towering pylons that dot the landscape as far as the eye can see, often getting in the way of perfect unmarred views of the sunset.
Picturesque views aside, AHH is an art lover’s dream.
Its style and architecture, modelled after Mali’s Great Mosque of Djenné, earned it a spot in the world’s foremost architectural magazine in the world, Architectural Digest.
It was the first house in Sub-Saharan Africa to be featured in the publication.
And inside this house is a treasure trove of African art, collected through the decades from some 18 African countries, curated and preserved not in the forbidding, prohibitive style of museums, but in the warm inviting way of an African home.
It is the home to priceless African art, artefacts, musical instruments, jewellery, furniture, textiles and books from around the continent.
You access AHH by driving up to Mlolongo, then searching for Kasina AIC Church signboard located on the service lane towards Nairobi.
The house is located at the end of a narrow driveway marked “Alan Donovan”, which lies right next to the church.
The house and its contents are synonymous with Mr Alan Donovan, an American artist who made it his mission to collect African art and to give it a home in Kenya.
0 comments:
Post a Comment