Exclusive Pictures of Aga Khan's Lisbon Home

A French-style salon is an example of the luxury and sophistication in Aga Khan’s new house in Lisbon

Aga Kahn IV, Ismaeli spiritual leader, has chosen Palacete Mendonça in downtown Lisbon as the epicenter for his international activity. This centuries-old house is thus transformed into a symbol of this man’s influence and power. Aga Kahn is worshipped by more than 15 million people worldwide.

The Louis XV room (it was so called by its former owner, Henrique Mendonça) is one of the most important rooms in the palace, opening into two other adjacent staterooms. This great salon is admirably adorned with fluid, gracious lines in rococo style and many ornamental motives.

The French sovereign’s style is defined by a well accentuated feminine aesthetic charge, much due to his lover Madame de Pompadour, who greatly influenced French art of the time. The nature-inspired fantasy, the lack of human or animal figures depiction, the C and S-shaped curves and the soft pastel tones combined with gold are characteristic of that style, of which Palacete Mendonça is a rare example in Portugal.

A white piano and most furniture, such as the chairs, the tables, and consoles, further emphasize this aesthetics, which can also be admired in Versailles, where Louis XV has also left his mark.

Designed by architect Ventura Terra in 1901 for businessman Henrique Mendonça, Palacete Mendonça was bought by Aga Khan from Universidade Nova de Lisboa in 2016. In July 2018, it was officially inaugurated as headquarters of the Aga Kahn universe. Since the day of its opening, dozens of Aga Kahn IV’s followers have been seen taking pictures of the walls that surround the property in Rua Marquês de Fronteira, at the top of Parque Eduardo VII.

These exclusive photos of one of the most sumptuous rooms in the palace were kindly given to us by sculptor Miguel Rodrigues. The artist exhibited one of his works in this very room some months prior to Aga Khan buying the house. Romeu Ponte was the photographer.