Villa Maretesta

The villa stands on a beautiful hillside, overlooking the bay of Naoussa, right next to the, as referred to by locals, Englishman’s hill: a magical spot for wave watching! The construction was left in an unfinished state since 2005. Fifteen years later, the family who took ownership decided, prior to completion, to redesign the building in order to accommodate their active and sociable lifestyle.

We designed an open kitchen with a central cooking island where hosts and friends can gather and chat while preparing meals. Next to the indoor, is an outdoor kitchen with a traditionally built wood fired oven and a BBQ area. The dining and living room both “communicate” with the kitchen and open up to a spacious veranda with a breath-taking sea views. This eastern veranda, as well as the one on the north-western side of the house, are wind and sun protected from the “meltemia” winds and the summer heat.

A loving highlight of this project was our commission to design a set of four ornate marble lintels to decorate the house. We were inspired by traditional symbols found in the Aegean islands of Cyclades: an octopus, a cypress tree, a starfish and a rosette. Having designed them we sent them to be hand carved in Tinos by artist Minas Maravelias.

Regarding the surrounding landscape we are slowly cultivating a Mediterranean garden with the guidance of Elena Symeonidou, a dedicated permaculture expert.