Little did these former kibbutznikim know but the modest house, plot of land and unassuming town they inhabited in '67 would turn into the country's wealthiest location.
By GLORIA DEUTSCHlivng room(photo credit: Eyal Izhar)
When Uzi and Naomi Eilam were looking for a house in 1967, Savyon and neighboring Moshav Ganei Yehuda seemed the most natural place to live. Both having grown up on kibbutzim - he in Tel Yosef and she in Kfar Ruppin - a small unassuming house with a lot of land seemed the answer.
They could not have dreamed then that Savyon would become the most expensive town in the country, populated by oligarchs and billionaires who have built palaces behind impenetrable walls.
The Eilams' modest bungalow has changed little in 41 years. Some internal alterations were made to accommodate the fact that the children have long left and they wanted to make it suitable for their age group. Although past retirement age, they are still busy. Uzi, a retired IDF brigadier-general, was at one time director of the Atomic Energy Commission and today is involved in research in various defense commissions, while Naomi worked for many years as a pediatrician at Beilinson and Schneider hospitals.
"We had spent some time in the States while Uzi did his master's degree at Stanford University and I worked as a family doctor, and when we came back, we needed to buy something cheap as, being from kibbutz, neither of us had family who could help. The original founders of Savyon, which was created in 1955 by South African investors, had a few of these simple houses left unsold and they wanted to get rid of them. It was a great place to raise children here in the '60s, but then the atmosphere in the country in general was good then," says Naomi.
Eight years ago they decided to renovate the house to make it suitable for their stage in life, with a room for visiting grandchildren - "No more than two at a time" says Naomi - and a room for themselves. The living area had to be designed for comfort, a place to sit together in the evening and watch television, a place to entertain friends but nothing ostentatious.
An important decision was to keep the computer and study room an integral part of the lounge, separated only by a half wall.
"If you give them a room with Internet, you never see them again," laughs Naomi. "Having the computer in this position means that we maintain contact even while we are both working."
The old tiles were covered in parquet flooring and some new swivel chairs bought for the lounge so they could watch the plasma screen set into the wall dividing off the computer area. The two stunning coffee tables were made by their son, Nimrod Eilam, who is a woodwork artist producing original designs from solid natural wood.
"These tables are a new line he has just developed in which the walnut of the wood is inset with a strip of epoxy running along the middle of the table and down the side," explains Naomi. Several other examples of their talented son's work can be seen around the house, including the all wooden cloakroom and the outside garden furniture made of chunky eucalyptus which can be left out in all weathers and will never warp.
Around the walls are several works by their daughter, Osnat Eilam-Kedmi, also an artist. As well as excelling in the plastic arts, the family is exceptionally musical, and Uzi is a lead trumpet player in Sam Zebba's Emeritus Orchestra, which is gearing up for the start of the new season.
Another radical change they did when renovating was to take away two small rooms looking out onto the huge garden - one was Naomi's clinic and another was a bedroom - to create a pleasant sitting area for viewing the patio, the garden full of fruit trees and Nimrod's rustic furniture. The diagonal walls are used for displaying family photos. The restful color scheme is overall creamy white with niches picked out in a rich apricot.
The simple dining room next to the kitchen has an oval table which can extend to accommodate 16 people, when it can then be turned at 45 degrees to stretch out into the sitting space for the big family get-togethers.
Savyon has changed since 1955, but this house is a reminder of how it all started.
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