El-Shai's Contributors
We’ve all seen posts talking about the $7 million villa being sold in the name of Mohamed Abdel Wahab, claiming that he’s lived there sometime before, but is it true? Let’s investigate!
Are the pictures real or a 3D render?
The villa was officially listed on Sotheby’s International Real Estate. Although the pictures show us a very new and modern designed villa, they claim it was built almost 80 years ago.
However, the website stated that the images are 3D renders. They state it’s from the twentieth century, in the heart of Zamalek, yet no one seems to know where exactly.
The listing capitalized on the fact that Mohamed Abdel Wahab, one of the most famous Egyptian composers, singers, and actors of the 20th century.
His daughter, however, claims it’s not
According to Masrawi, Essmat Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Abdel Wahab’s daughter from his second wife Eqbal, denied that this villa is the property of her father, saying that they’ve lived in a rental apartment in Zamalek in Mohamed Mazhar street with Abdel Wahab’s wife, where he took his last breaths and not in a villa.
We contacted the real estate agency to know the truth
Even before Essmat stated that they never owned the villa, we contacted Sotheby’s International Real Estate to know more about the villa, and as soon as they knew we’re media, we were asked not to contact them again.
Moreover, the listing is now removed from the website.
But there’s a possibility that Mohamed Abdel Wahab might have owned the villa, and his daughter doesn’t know
According to an article by Dr. Lotus Abdel-Karim, titled “Tawfiq Al-Hakim Witnessing the Secret Marriage of Abdel Wahab,” says that Abdel Wahab and the writer Tawfiq Al-Hakim were friends for 10 years, during which he witnessed his first marriage contract with Zubaida Elhakim in 1931.
He admired Zubaida Elhakim when he met her at a party in a float on the Nile, then the meetings continued, and their relationship strengthened until they married in 1931.
Mrs. Zubaida Elhakim insisted on the marriage being a secret fearing for her wealth, which she inherited from her late husband. Zubaida had a villa in Zamalek, which Abdel Wahab was supposedly living in with her out of the limelight throughout their 12 years of marriage.
Author Lotus Abdel Karim continues that no one knew the secret of their marriage and his life with Zubaida in the palace except a woman named Isabelle Beida, one of the owners of the Beidafon Records Company, which they contracted the marriage in her home in Heliopolis.
Now comes the real question, does this villa really belong to Abdel Wahab?
While we might not surely know, what we can definitely tell you is that this listing is fishy to say the least. There’s not a single picture of the real place, and after contacting several brokers in Zamalek, no one knows where the villa is.
Additionally, the real estate agency is refusing to answer any questions about the place, and they even removed the listing. Moreover, the pricing is just ridiculous for its specifications.
Moral of the story: don’t believe everything you see online.
