Seafront Splendor

WATERSIDE mansions lining the Bosporus strait in Istanbul have been the city's most prized real-estate assets for more than two centuries. Now, more owners are listing these rare but iconic properties, tempted by the potential of a multimillion-dollar windfall. Typically, about a dozen of-Istanbul's roughly 600 authentic mansions-called yalis are sold each year. But this year, 15 have been sold and five remain on the market, according to brokers. The yalis on the market range from $20 million to $115 million (14.5 million to 84 million), brokers say. A boat trip along the waterway that separates Istanbul's European and Asian sides reveals the charm of these estates. A hodgepodge of candy-colored, mostly wooden mansions-large and small, opulent and modest-line the shores. Some appear unchanged over the centuries, with facades of delicate wood lattice and roofs crowned by gilded cupolas. Others have undergone luxury renovations that include Ottoman-themed swimming pools or dockside decking. In Ottoman times, the nobility and merchant class decamped to yalis during the hot summer to take advantage of the breezes off the Black Sea. There is a high concentration of yalis on the Asian shore of the strait, which translates into a 25% mark up for European-side yalis. After the Turkish republic was founded in 1923, the titans of the country's emerging industries bought the homes. Today, more yalis are bought by businessmen close to the Turkish government.