Ezekiel House is one of the most significant surviving residences on Synagogue Lane. For generations, it was associated with the Rahabi family, whose influence extended far beyond Kochi. At a time when the Malabar Coast sat at the centre of the global spice trade, the Rahabis were among the region’s most powerful merchants, trusted by local rulers and the Dutch East India Company alike.

The family’s most prominent figure, Ezekiel Rahabi, arrived from a Syrian Jewish lineage that settled in Kochi in the seventeenth century. As Chief Merchant and Agent to the Dutch East India Company, he managed major trade networks across the Malabar Coast and acted as a negotiator between the Dutch, the Maharajas of Cochin and Travancore, and other regional powers. His influence can still be seen across the neighbourhood today. Rahabi funded the iconic Mattancherry Clock Tower beside the Paradesi Synagogue and brought the synagogue’s celebrated hand-painted Chinese floor tiles from Canton, helping shape some of the quarter’s most enduring landmarks.

Over time, the house evolved with the neighbourhood around it. What began as a family residence later became a series of commercial spaces as the Jewish community gradually left Kochi during the twentieth century. The recent restoration carefully reversed those changes, uncovering the original structure beneath decades of alterations while preserving its residential character.

Today, Ezekiel House offers six guest rooms and a ground-floor café within a building that remains deeply connected to the history of the lane. Original timber beams, high ceilings, wooden floors, and thoughtfully restored details create a stay that feels less like visiting a historic site and more like living within it.