The Villa known as the Donna Maria Sursock residence was built by Alfred Surcock, Maria’s husband, in 1909 and served as the primary residence of the affluent Sursock family in the Lebanese mountains. It was built on Ain Saoufar’s hill top, commanding the view over the town behind it as well as the valleys, gorges, villages and ultimately the Mediterranean Sea below from an elevation of 1250m. 

Located around 500m from the Grand Hotel, also built by the Sursocks, the Donna Maria Palace would host lavish parties and gatherings every summer until 1975. During the civil war, it was looted and damaged extensively. In 2016, a general renovations of the garden area in-front of the palace led to its soft reopening as an outdoor wedding venue, a program that is current funding the renovation works to the palace itself which commenced in the summer of 2018.