Kakhe Sefid (White Castle or White House)

A little further away from the noise and traffic of Tajrish Square in Tehran, there is a quiet, calm and attractive area that used to be the house of the Pahlavi family and has now become a museum.

You will find the Kakhe Sefid or the Nation Museum Palace in the Sa'dabad Complex. You are about one thousand and four hundred meters from Tajrish Square to Sa'dabad Palace. If you like to walk, you will see yourself in front of the entrance after 5 minutes. Sa'dabad Complex covers one hundred ten hectares and if you want to visit all the museums in the complex, you should spend the whole day. But you have to spend at least an hour to visit the Kakhe Sefid.

Sa'dabad dates back to the Qajar period. Qajar houses played the role of barracks later. The White House was inaugurated during Pahlavi the first and in 1315 SH. It was designed by Engineer Khorsandi and other famous artists were involved in its interior design and decoration. Its exterior is designed like the royal palaces of Germany and its interior design consist of a combination of Iranian and Byzantine style. Kakhe Sefid covers five thousand meter square and it consists of two floors and a basement with ten ceremonial halls and fifty-four different units.

Due to its white façade, this building is known as Khakhe Sefid (White House) and it was repaired and renovated between 1345 SH and 1349 SH. The second time, it was decorated to Pahlavi's second wife's taste and with the help of French designers.

 The Palace Museum of the Nation was dedicated both to ceremonial affairs and to the royal family's summer residence during the Second Pahlavi period. Now, if you go to The Palace Museum of the Nation, you'll see Farah Pahlavi's art collection in the basement of the Khakhe Sefid (White House). There are some halls, the meeting room, the reception hall, the second Pahlavi office, the minister's office, and the billiards room on the ground floor. Farah Pahlavi's office, family living room, dormitories, ceremonial dining room, and music hall are upstairs.

There is a permanent exhibition to present Valuable items such as gifts from foreign and Iranian officials to the court, French antiques, carpets, historic pottery, and the historic version of the Shahnameh, which are open to the public. Other palaces in the Sa'dabad complex are also spectacular and they worth a visit.