Atatürk Museum is on the 1st cordon, and it was constructed as a house by the carpet merchant Takfor between 1875 and 1880. It was abandoned by its owner on September 9, 1922 and the property was transferred to the Ministry of Treasury. It was used as the headquarters of the Turkish Army who conquered İzmir. On February 17, 1923, when the İzmir Economy Congress was held, Atatürk conducted his personal studies here. At the end of the Congress, the headquarters were relocated and the Treasury rented this building to Naim Bey to be used as a hotel. On June 16, 1926, when Atatürk visited İzmir, he stayed at the Naim Palace with İsmet Paşa. On October 13, 1926, the building was purchased by the Municipality of İzmir and it was gifted to Atatürk with new furniture. Atatürk stayed at this house every time he visited İzmir between 1930-1934. After the passing of Atatürk on November 10, 1938, the house was inherited by his sister, Makbule Baysan. On September 25, 1940, the Municipality of İzmir expropriated the building to convert it to a museum. The museum was opened on September 11, 1941, which was the 19th anniversary of the day Atatürk came to İzmir.
On October 5, 1962, the museum was named “Atatürk Provincial Public Library and İzmir City Atatürk Museum”. On December 28, 1972, the property of the building was transferred to the İzmir Archaeology Museum with the writings numbered 12088 of the Prime Ministry Undersecretariat of Culture. On October 29, 1978 after it was restored and renovated, it was opened to visit with a ceremony as “Atatürk and Ethnography Museum”. After the ethnographic works were moved to the new Ethnography Museum, the museum was renamed to “Atatürk Museum”.
The building features a Neoclassical style with a blend of Ottoman and Levantine architecture. It consists of a basement, a ground floor, 1st floor and an attic. It is built of stone bricks, it takes 852 m2 of space and there is a cloister on its rectangular back. There is a bay window on its first-floor front.
Its whole ground floor is laid with large-sized marble plates. In the hall, there is a 34.5 m2 Uşak carpet, marble statues in the left and right niches, a big crystal mirror and an Atatürk bust. In the rooms on the left and right and parlor, there are exquisite 19th century-style fireplaces. At the beginning of the stairs to the first floor, there are 2 bronze cavalier statues that act as sconces. At the stairway landing, there is a large Atatürk portrait.
The first floor holds the rooms once used by Atatürk, namely the meeting room, the study room, the bedroom, the guest room, the barber room, the guard room, the waiting-reception room, the library, the dining room and the bathroom. In the meeting room, there is a roulette table covered with green broadcloth in the middle and 12 Cosmos brand chairs surrounding it. Some scenes from Shakespeare’s plays are depicted on the porcelain tiles installed on the backs of 10 small mahogany chairs resting on the walls of the halls.
In the bedroom there is a mahogany bedstead, two nightstands, two velvet armchairs, a sofa, a sunbed, a marquise and three wardrobes. The bedroom was furnished to the fashion of the day. The library contains a French encyclopedia. There is an oak veneered desk and a writing set used by Atatürk on it. The rooms are decorated with bronze statues, vases and oil paintings. There are Isparta and Uşak carpets on the floor.