Deyhouk, a dream of rebuilding the past

 

In the east of Iran, between the Lut desert in the south and Mashad in the north, lies the abandoned town of Deyhouk.

After an earthquake in 1978, most of the mud brick houses - dating back hundreds of years - collapsed and everyone moved to the government-built new town a few kilometres away. All except one person.

Hossein Ostad, a kind-faced man in his 40s, remained. The pull of his ancestral home town was too great. Unable to leave his past behind he rebuilt his house brick by brick eventually creating a small boutique hotel.

“People moved because they wanted the luxury life,” he tells me. “What they don’t realise is that the luxury life is right here in these houses.”

With his meagre resources - he has sold his car and various family heirlooms - he is now working to renovate other buildings and breathe life again into the dilapidated and abandoned.

“If nobody does this then nothing will remain here,” he says. “I love my county. I do it to protect our history.”

Hossein and his son proudly show off the town

Hossein in the room he was born in, a few doors down from his own house

We climb to the hill adjacent to the village to get a view of the whole area

Part of the old village can be seen behind Hossein and his son. The new town built by the government can be seen in the distance.

On the other side of the hill the village continues, the setting is stunning

Hossein’s house which he has restored and turned partly into a boutique hotel

“People moved because they wanted the luxury life. What they don’t realise is that the luxury life is right here in these houses.”

At the end of our visit, Hossein made some tea in the courtyard outside his house (entrance on the left)

Tea pouring

Hossein and his son in old Deyhouk