It is known that there was a monastery in the area where the EÜ Rectorate is located today in the early 18th century. The house, which was first built as a single storey by a Dutch immigrant on this land, was purchased in the 1820s by James Whittall, one of the partners of the famous Whittall company, who settled in Izmir for commercial purposes in 1817. After his death, the house passed into the ownership of his brother Charlton Whittall and was later expanded in the years to include floors added and became known as the “Big House”. Due to the Whittall Family’s position in social and political life, the Big House hosted many important names at different times. Some of these important guests were Sultan Abdülaziz (1863), Alfred Ernest Albert, Duke of Edinburgh and George Frederick Ernest Albert (1886), who came with him - who would ascend to the British throne as George V in 1910 - and Prince Andrew of Greece (1921). The Great House, which was owned by the Giraud family in the 1930s, was nationalized in 1960 and transferred to the Turkish Treasury, and then became the property of Ege University. The building currently serves as the EÜ Rectorate Administrative Building.

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