Boğaziçi ve yalıları korunması gereken, mimarisi ve doğal güzelliği ile tarihi mirası olarak değerlendirilebilir. Boğaziçi yalı mimarisi sadece İstanbul Boğazı’na özgü bir mimaridir. 19. yüzyılın ikinci yarısından kalan fotoğraf albümlerinde yer alan büyük yalıların, bugün yapılan kıyı konutlarıyla hemen hemen hiçbir yaşama ve biçim ilişkisi kalmamıştır. Ortaköy Kuruçeşme kıyı yerleşiminde geleneksel yalılar, kıyı şeridi içindeki konumları, arka plandaki köşkleri ve koruları ile Boğaziçi siluetini oluşturmaktaydılar. Ortaköy Kuruçeşme’de 20. yüzyıldan sonra bu yalıların yok olduğu ve yerlerini kömür depolarının, fabrika ve liman tesislerinin aldığı görülür. Günümüzde bu bölgede geleneksel yalıların mevcut yasalar çerçevesinde rekonstrüksiyon uygulamaları yapılmaktadır. Ancak bu yalıların rekonstrüksiyonunu gerektirecek önemli kriterlerin belirlenmesi gerekmektedir. Bu makalede Ortaköy Kuruçeşme kıyı yerleşiminin yakın tarihsel geçmişi ile bağlantılı olarak önemi vurgulanacaktır. Ayrıca günümüzdeki rekonstrüksiyon uygulamalarına kuramsal yaklaşımlar desteğinde bu yalıların rekonstrüksiyonunu gerektirecek önemli kriterlerin belirlenmesi tartışılacaktır. Bu kuramlar çerçevesinde, çalışma alanında rekonstrüksiyonu yapılabilecek düzeydeki yapılar “mimarlık ve/veya sanat tarihi açısından önemli olması, tarihsel olaylarla veya kişilerle ilişkili olması, hanedana veya merkezi yönetime ait olması, yeterli ön cephe, yan cephe ve iç fotoğraflara sahip olması, gravür-resim vb. gibi belgelerde yer alması, ölçülü kroki, plan ve eski harita gibi belgelere sahip olması, hava fotoğraflarında görünmesi, literatürde yer alan rölöve ve restitüsyon projelerinin olması ve güncel konumunun rekonstrüksiyona uygunluğu” açılarından değerlendirilmiştir. Ayrıca çalışma alanında yer alan yapı ve parsellere kullanım önerileri getirilmiştir.

It is being observed that the construction at Bosphorus surged, beginning from the onset of the 19th century. The names of yali owners, recorded on Bostancıbaşı’s (Chief Gardener) pertaining to 1790 and the years of 1814–1815 have been a considerable resource regarding these periods. While part of the Bosphorus yalis, figuring on BostancıBaşı’s (Chief Gardener) Ledger, pertaining to the 19th century, survived the end of 19th century, some others have been destroyed or consumed in fires. The Bosphorus villages have lost their quality of summer resort and become suburbs in the 19th century. Having said that, the smoothing of transport circumstances and the fact that Şirket-i Hayriye started regular services as from the year 1852, rendered the Bosphorus settlements, areas inhabited throughout the year. The inexpensively timber imported figures in the sources as well as the locally produced wood, incoming from the Anatolia and Rumelia as of the second half of the 19th century. The wooden material became plentiful in this era; the utilization of timber as both structural and veneering became widespread. The emphasis such as that the ground floors of the houses attend the service sections, that there is a life style oriented towards the street, the outwards extension of upper floors of the homes, the fenestrations, room the room arrangements, the fewness of the layers, the horizontal development have been the fundamental approach of the yalis (seaside houses), partaking on the Bosporus shoreline. The wooden structure had many windowed and hectic upper floors exuberating to the street, and towards the sea in the yalis. The impact of that the yalis are frequently torn down and rebuilt, that they can follow the Western impressions more by virtue of they were the buildings of the court and high level families and those have the power to have such novelties implemented, and also more radical alterations could be performed since they were summer residences had a significant importance in the reflection of Westernization influences on the Bosporus yalis. The yalis, built on the Bosphorus shoreline at the end of the 19th century have been constructed on Baroque, Neo-classic, Eclectic and Art Nouveau styles. The wood material has been preferred in the Bosphorus shore’s yalis for they may be built easily, cheaply and fast. However, these buildings lied in ruins or were destroyed in short notice. That the people, belonging to the Ottoman Dynasty have the power to have such coastal palaces and yalis ( seaside house), on the styles and specifications of the era and that the wood material is convenient for building in a short time resulted in construction of specific yalis in this area or else, the rebuilding of the structures by re-arrangement of their facades. Moreover in those centuries during which the population of Istanbul rose quickly, the wooden structures have been favored at Bosphorus for their inexpensiveness of and because they could be built fast. Yet, the fact that the resistance of the wood is low, that it is readily lost in the fires and that the maintenance of such buildings was not fulfilled when they have been deserted, constitute obstacles to the persistency of yali (seaside house) architecture. The yalis (seaside house) were easily lost for the above reasons and new ones with different styles were built in their place. Furthermore, the rapid population growth as from the middle of the 19th century and intense construction related to it induced that big fires broke out in the Bosphorus more frequently than experienced in the past centuries. Starting by this century, the administration desired to transform the construction to stone buildings by reason of fires of big scale. The palaces, police stations and caserns were built by this technique. Yet, wooden yalis (seaside houses) proceeded to be built on the shoreline of Bosphorus. The inauguration of the lines between Karaköy and Ortaköy in the year 1871 facilitated the