Shubra Palace is the most distinctive building in Ta'if — a four-storey mansion of white marble, with wooden balconies (mashrabiya) running across each facade and a green-shuttered façade that looks more Levantine than Hejazi. The owner, a wealthy local trader, imported the marble from Italy in the early twentieth century and the workmanship from craftsmen who had worked on similar projects in Damascus.
The palace now houses the regional museum, with collections covering Hejazi crafts, Bedouin life, and the early Saudi state. The upstairs rooms still have their original furnishings and photographs of King Abdulaziz's visits. The building is the main reason most visitors take a detour through Ta'if rather than continuing straight from Mecca to the south.