The Villa
Our house is surrounded by family garden plots, tended by locals who live in nearby villages. It was in the process of being renovated when we purchased it in 2018. The original tiny farmhouse had been replaced with a modern three bedroom home with three large bathrooms. Although new, the house was bare bones with no kitchen, a thick layer of dust and piles of construction debris. A local craftsman built our custom kitchen and we worked hard to clean and furnish the house for ourselves and future guests. My husband and I occupy one of the rooms and rent the other two on Airbnb. Click here for a detailed description and pictures of each room. The house also features a ground level terrace with a wood-fired pizza oven which is perfect for dining and a huge rooftop terrace equipped with water and electricity, patio furniture and a fire pit. The gravel driveway is rather steep and recommended only for very small vehicles. However, there is additional parking on a flat surface just a short walk away, as well as a paved side entrance that is nearly level.
An Ancient Aqueduct
An ancient aqueduct runs through our property, also originally constructed by the Greeks. It has been reinforced with concrete and is still used today to provide water for irrigation to farms in the valley, as well as municipal water for a nearby village. The aqueduct splits into three different channels very close to our house. Long ago, when our villa was a tiny farmhouse, it served as the gatekeeper's home. Because access was difficult, he had to live on-site to control the metal gates to direct the flow of water. Today the aqueduct is maintained by a local consortium that regulates the flow. We use a solar pump to use water from the canal to irrigate our fruit trees and gardens.
We are Eco-Conscious
We strive to be as ecologically friendly as possible on the farm. We have an energy system made up of 30 solar panels generating 9.75 kilowatts of clean solar energy with two 5 kilowatt inverters and a 14 kilowatt Tesla Power Wall 2 battery on-site, so you can run the air conditioner or heater in your room guilt- free. The kitchen has an under-the-sink water filtration system that provides guests with an unlimited supply of purified water to fill your containers with so there's no need to purchase disposable plastic bottles. Food and garden scraps are composted on-site and we participate in a program that recycles glass, cardboard, paper, plastic and metal.