Shangri La

he Damascus Room originally served as a bedroom for Doris Duke’s stepdaughter. But following Duke’s divorce from James Cromwell in the 1940s and a trip to Syria and Lebanon in the early 1950s, she transformed the space. On her trip she purchased an 18th-century Syrian interior. In 1955, the painted and gilded wood panels, ceiling, vitrines, and doors were installed at Shangri La. The new Damascus Room, however, continued to serve as a bedroom for visitors, staff, and family.

Lovely views of the ocean and Diamond Head can be seen from the Damascus Room. A wood, screen door in the room leads to the roof of the Moroccan Room and Doris Duke’s Bedroom, at the end of which is the jali (lattice screen) pavilion. The pavilion is composed from remaining pieces of the marble bedroom and bathroom suite that Duke commissioned in India in 1935. Duke used the pavilion recreationally for sunning, playing backgammon, and sewing.

Resources

Learn more about Damascus rooms:

The Hagop Kevorkian Center,
New York University

Nur al-Din Room at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Room from Damascus at
The Cincinnati Museum of Art

Syria-Lebanon Room,
Cathedral of Learning,
University of Pittsburgh

Conservation of a Syrian interior in Dresden, Germany

The Turkish Rooms at Shangri La