Mr. Khoury, returned to his home country in the mid-1990s after having completed his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design and then his master's at Harvard. He thought he would be part of the reconstruction of institutions in the war-torn country. Instead, he was commissioned to do a series of temporary projects in the entertainment industry.
This spacious penthouse in Beirut is owned by 45-year-old Lebanese architect Bernard Khoury. He chose a home with its hodgepodge city view over the more sought-after romantic sea view. It happened by circumstance, when his friend, Marc Doumit, a developer, bought the land on Damascus Road at a low price in the late 1990s after it had been sitting deserted for nearly a decade following the end of the 15-year civil war. Mr. Khoury's family moved in last year.
Inside the room, Mr. Khoury has his own furniture designs: low cream-colored couches, tan cabinets that hold books and artwork and hide the built-in sound system, and a 12-seat wooden dining table.
Mr. Khoury designed the 12-unit residential building and his own 4,306-square-foot, five-bedroom, seven-bathroom penthouse in the venture with Mr. Doumit. His unit cost him less than $1 million when he purchased it in 2008, and he estimates it to be worth about $4 million today.
An entire wall of the main room is a window that fully slides open to the outside. The openness is more pronounced when walking across the 'bridge'—an overhead walkway on the floor above—or when using the swing that hangs right next to the open wall.
Upstairs are the bedrooms of his 14-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter, each with their own marble bathrooms.
The roof has a swimming pool and a 2,153-square-foot terrace, which Mr. Khoury uses throughout the year. The glass divider outdoors gives the same feeling of being suspended over Beirut that the sliding windows do on the floor below.
My favorite elements in Bernard Khoury's penthouse:
The home's staircase is a contrast in colors.
A minimal side table in Mr. Khoury's penthouse.
*This article was written and published on The Wall Street Journal.