One of Istanbul’s most extraordinary buildings was left to rot for decades. Now it’s been brought back to life

Istanbul —

For years, the Botter Apartment was easy to miss. On İstiklal Avenue — Istanbul’s busiest pedestrian street, where a vintage red tram rattles past music shops, cafes, and boutiques — most people never looked up. Above the shopfronts, a graceful Art Nouveau façade, once at the forefront of a city redefining itself, quietly decayed.

The building was more than a decorative façade. Commissioned by Sultan Abdülhamid II, designed by Italian architect Raimondo D’Aronco, and built for the Sultan’s Dutch tailor, Jean Botter, it was one of the structures that introduced Istanbul to modern European architecture and shaped the aesthetic of its wealthier streets.

Over the next century, however, the apartment changed hands multiple times, was neglected, and slowly faded from view.

Now t