Weizmann House

Weizmann House was built in 1936 as the private home of Dr. Chaim Weizmann and Dr. Vera Weizmann.  They decided to build their home in the Land of Israel in Rechovot, next to the Sieff Institute founded by Dr. Weizmann in 1934, which later became the Weizmann Institute of Science.

The house was designed by a well-known Jewish architect, Erich Mendelsohn, who left Germany when the Nazis rose to power.  Weizmann House was Mendelsohn's first work in the Land of Israel. Mendelsohn wrote:  "This is a completely contemporary home… However, it has features of a residence in a sub-tropical climate.  In my opinion, this style of house will become popular in the East after two thousand years, just as it was accepted that Judea was a Roman province."

On Dr. Weizmann's election as President of the State, the house became the official resident of the President of Israel.  After his death, the official residence moved to Jerusalem.  The Weizmanns donated the estate, the house and its contents to the State, in order to preserve the heritage of the First President.

Architect Erich Mendelsohn

Erich Mendelsohn was a world-famous Jewish architect. He was born on March 21,1887 in Allenstein in Germany. When the Nazis came to power he moved to England and to the Land of Israel, and worked in both countries. In 1942, he immigrated to the USA and died on September 15, 1953 in San Francisco. Mendelsohn was considered a giant of modern architecture. In a relatively short period of seven years working in the Land of Israel, he completed several projects. His work is modest, with simple lines, but full of grandeur, with "biblical shades" in his words, and nobility derived from its forms and materials.

Weizmann House Preservation Project

The first renovation, generously funded by the Clore Foundation, was done in 1978, and the house was opened to the public as a museum. 

In 1999, the conservation work included the Weizmann house, the collection and various areas of the estate. The restoration work was planned and supervised by the architects Hillel Shocken and Daniel Assayag, with a donation from the Yad Hanadiv Foundation. The conservation and restoration work tried to restore the house and objects to their character, as it was when the Weizmann couple lived in the house.

In 2017, additional conservation work was carried out, under the supervision of conservation architect Tal Eyal. The focus was strengthening the building.

 The Estate

The physical structure of the grden was designed by the house architect Erich Mendelsohn as an integral part of the house.  The vegetation was planned by the park architect Shlomo Weinberg-Oren from Kibbutz Yagur, who planned several parks, including the Yad Hanadiv Park in Zichron Yaakov.

The idea of the two architects was to establish a Mediterranean garden around the Weizmann House. Most of the plants planted in the garden originate in the Mediterranean, some are from Israel and some were imported to Israel.

The location of some of the trees in the gardens and the division between the lawns exist to this day according to Weinberg's plan.

The Grave Site

Dr. Chaim Weizmann asked to be buried on the estate next to his home.  On his death, the headstone was designed with the simple inscription "Chaim Weizmann".  In his will, Weizmann asked for a simple grave:  "

.. I was always a simple Jew from Motol, and that's how I want to remain after my death…"

Dr. Vera Weizmann asked to replace the original headstone, a marble stone bearing Weizmann's name and dates of birth and death.   Vera wished to be buried next to her husband.  She wanted the headstone to mention their private grief, the death of their younger son Michael, who was killed in World War II.  The new headstone was designed according to the Tomb of the Missing Soldier in England in 1962.  It was designed by sculptor Moshe Ziffer.  Engraved in the center of the stone is the emblem of the Weizmann Institute of Science, designed by Erich Mendelsohn at the request of Dr. Weizmann as the logo of the Sieff Institute.  The emblem is engraved between the names of the Weizmanns.

The Presidential Car

In 1950, Henry Ford II presented to Dr. Chaim Weizmann a Ford Lincoln Cosmopolitan, one of a series of 18 cars of this type that were made to a special specification designed for the US President. The car became the official vehicle of the State President, and after Weizmann's death in 1952, it was put on display at the Weizmann House. Over time, due to exposure to the elements, the vehicle's glory faded. Delek Motors, the importer and distributor of the Ford Lincoln in Israel, undertook, together with the Ford Company in the United States, the task of restoring and preserving the car. The work took 13 months, after which the vehicle was returned to a special display structure designed by the architect Hillel Shocken.

The Memorial Plaza

The Plaza was built in the early 1960s as a memorial to Chaim Weizmann, and in 1972, a Memorial to the Holocaust by Dani Karavan was placed there.  The monument is made of chalkstone and bears a Scroll of the Law (Sefer Torah).  The stone itself, weighing 22 tons and 2 meters high, was quarried in Israel.  The Sefer Torah was cast in bronze in Italy.  The Scroll is 1 meter high and weighs 9 tons. Engraved on the stone is an extract from Dr. Weizmann's eulogy for the Holocaust victims, in a speech given at the 1946 Zionist Congress.  This was the first Congress after the War and the Holocaust – and the last for Weizmann as President of the Zionist Federation.