After being purchased by the Syrian government from the Al-Azm family and undergoing several reconstruction works, the palace now houses the Museum of Arts and Popular Traditions.

A local Damascene barber, Shaikh Ahmad Al-Bidiri Al-Halaq recorded in his diary how "every time he [Al-Azem] heard of an antiquity or rare work of marble or porcelain, he would send someone to get it - with or without the owner's consent".

The crowd for the museum's opening greatly exceeded expectations that led Shafiq Imam to design a new staircase for the main hall to allow visitors to enter from one side and leave from another.

The selamlek is the guest wing, and it comprises the formal halls, reception areas and large courtyards with traditional cascading fountain, while in the northern part of the palace were the servant quarters and the center of housekeeping activities.

[5] Near the hammam is the main marble-floored reception hall, and behind it is a second, smaller courtyard with a number of rooms now used to display various traditional crafts such as glass, copper and textiles.

Dr. Andrew Petersen, director of Research in Islamic Archaeology at the University of Wales Lampeter states that the use of ablaq (alternating courses of white limestone and black basalt) in this building is “A characteristic of the monumental masonry of Damascus.”[8]