Architecture Wednesday: Teloneio Kardamyli Stone House

The Teloneio is a former Customs House but had long since been abandoned before the new owners decided it would make a perfect vacation home. And that was an arduous process, though through governmental red tape, building codes, and design approval, taking eight years to turn a listed historical building into a modern family home, while simultaneously respecting its place in the local landscape, history, and community. 

The stone building has been sitting in this spot in the port of Kardamyli since the 18^th century, making the Teloneio a focal point for the area. It had been resurrected once, as a motel, in the 1960s, and later partially buried in concrete and fallen into disrepair before the new owners saw something that made them buy it.

As a former fortified customs house, the Teloneio was originally designed for protection, with goods stored on the lower floor and defensive barracks space above. The architects opened up and connected the two floors, and the two separate buildings, adding features like new windows to add light and air flow to make it feel like a home.

All of the original 18th-century stonework was revealed, and once that mass of concrete that had been laid around the building as removed, it turned  the short squat buildings into tall slender ones. The shell of the building was then restored to its original fortified Mani architecture of thick stone walls.

And since the original building had a more utilitarian use, none of the spaces were connected or allowed people to move freely inside, and between, spaces; all the rooms had separate access from the outside. A new stairway was created in the center of the one building to allow access to the main spaces of living, dining and kitchen on the second floor, and access across a second-floor terrace to the primary suite. A new hallway was created on the first floor to connect one bedroom to the other two on the main floor.,

I love the old stone, with the new windows, and industrial kitchen; and the open spaces and sightlines to the port are stunning. It may no longer be a Custom’s House but is the most custom house.

As always, click to emBIGGERate ...

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Architecture Wednesday: Villa Mandra

After last week’s Minnesota rustic cabin, with it’s emphasis on   wood, I have opted for a modern beach house in Greece; light and bright; stone and stucco; nearly tree-less landscape but, oy, that sea view. This home, the Villa Mandra, sits on the ridge of the hill of Aleomandra in Mykonos, and yet is almost entirely hidden from view .The six-bedroom holiday house looks straight out to sea and the sunset over the neighboring island of Delos, Villa Mandra celebrates its spectacular view from a sensitively landscaped, stone-walled garden that screens it from the road behind.

In order to enjoy the outdoors on those scorching summer days, the patio living and dining areas are fully shaded overhead, but open to the pool and the sea beyond. And even though the house is built for large gatherings, it nestles into the landscape, so as not to overtake it and rise above it.

There are two small traditionally whitewashed volumes and a third one built of stone dug from the site, built around a large ‘courtyard’ covered by a chestnut pergola. This courtyard becomes the focal point of the house, seamlessly connected to the  indoor living room and the kitchen volumes and looking over the pool. Beneath the pool garden are the private bedrooms, separated for privacy, but each with its own garden and sea view.

It’s cozy and comfortable, while able to house large groups of people; it’s simple and yet luxurious; you can gather together, or go your own way.

I’m already packing.

Arch Daily

Architecture Wednesday: AS House

 Appearing as a cluster of primitive buildings, As House sits atop a slope on Paros Island, fitting right into the landscape. Those ancient Greek dry-stone wall is reimagined as a way to define a series of outdoor terraces and protect them from the high North winds. The home was designed to fit the land, not vice versa, with private and public areas intersect, framing the views toward the terraces, the pool, and the Aegean Sea beyond.

The house is clean and calm and peaceful inside, simple really, but step outside and there are dining areas, outdoor shower, patios, and a pool, making it easy to live inside or out.

Away from it all …

Click to emBIGGERate.

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