The wooden, two or three-storey Ottoman houses consisting of four to ten rooms date to the 19th to 20th century, and have been restored with the initiative of Çelik Gülersoy in 1985-1986.
Called "Ayasofya Konakları" (Hagia Sophia Mansions), nine of the houses are run as a hostel chain by the Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey (TTOK). The houses are named after the flower shrubs next to them as "Yaseminli Ev" (Jasmine House), "Mor Salkımlı Ev" (Wisteria sinensis House), "Hanımeli Ev" (Honeysuckle House) etc. The buildings are decorated in the 19th century style with furniture including such items as beds and consoles, silk curtains, velvet armchairs and gilded mirrors. Most notable guest of the hostel was Queen Sofía of Spain, who stayed in the spring of 2000 for four nights.[1]
The birthplace of Turkey's 6th president Fahri Korutürk (1903–1987) is also situated in this street.[2] One of the houses hosts the library "İstanbul Kitaplığı" with over 10,000 books about Istanbul[3] owned by the Çelik Gülersoy Foundation.
On one end of the street towards Gülhane Park is a Byzantine cistern, which houses the "Sarnıç Restaurant" today.
