In the 19th century Büyükdere, like neighbouring Tarabya, was a popular summer retreat for members of Istanbul's foreign and diplomatic community and it still has several churches and embassy buildings dating back to that period.

The wealthy Koç family bought it as a home in the 1950s but in 1980 turned it into a private museum to house the collections of Turkish businessman Vehbi Koç's wife, Sadberk Hanım[4] However, it is scheduled to open at a new site on the banks of the Golden Horn in 2023 as part of the Haliçport project.

[5] Nearby is a second museum building that houses the carpet and kilim collection of American explorer Josephine Powell.

Another building is the Russian Summer Embassy which started life as a home for Count Nikolay Ignatyev in 1840.

[11] Overlooking the coast road the 18th-century yalı once owned by Keçecizade Fuat Paşa, grand vizier to Sultan Abdülaziz, is now a hotel.