Mehrshahr () is a wealthy and luxury area located south-west of

Karaj Karaj ( fa, کرج, ) is the capital of Alborz Province, Iran, and effectively a satellite city of Tehran. Although the county hosts a population around 1.97 million, as recorded in the 2016 census, most of the county is rugged mountain. The ur ...

city in

Alborz province Alborz Province ( fa, استان البرز, ''Ostān-e Alborz'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran.Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

History

In 1960s the area was mostly made up of large

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of la ...

s which was designed and built by Ali Saroukhani and owned by the members of the

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...

. They built the

Pearl Palace ) , native_name_lang = Persian , former_names = Kakh-e ُMorvarid ( fa, كاخ مروارید) , alternate_names = Kakh-e Shams, Shams Palace, Morvarid Palace , image = Pearl Palace -Kakh e Morvarid- Karaj Iran.jpg , image_alt = , caption = ...

(Persian: kakh-e Morvarid), and a small set of scattered large

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

s. The area was not open to the public. After a decade the number of these houses increased and the area was reshaped into a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

. The area was designed by

Taliesin Associated Architects Taliesin Associated Architects was an architectural firm founded by apprentices of Frank Lloyd Wright to carry on his architectural vision after his death in 1959. The firm disbanded in 2003. It was headquartered at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ar ...

(Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation). Since 1979, when Pahlavi family left Iran after the

Islamic Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

, the area has been opened for public residency and became more populated. The old areas are now recognized as Phases One, Two and Three, which are around the Shahrdari boulevard. The Pearl Palace is placed in phase 3. Many other new towns like Kianmehr, as well as Phase Four and Phase Five have also been built around this area.

References

{{coord, 35.8008, N, 50.9053, E, source:wikidata, display=title Karaj