Traditional masonry residence at the boundary of the old village of Vytina, Arcadia in a 2.400m2 plot.
Designed with the constraint of an existing foundation, implemented only partly due to change of circumstances.
Specifications: Extreme traditional construction with load bearing masonry walls, ancient hand-made roof tiles, and hand-sculpted wood structures, (roofs- floors) fully exposed to view with intense contrast of modern technology on remaining slick finishes and technology, a statement in poetic medieval scenery, and also Complete isolation & privacy within the estate, thanks to plantings and the 2nd auxiliary residence & the connecting wide covered entry terrace
Discrete differentiation both in overall proportions of wings & windows and in minor construction details create the appearance of an estate constructed over several hundred years with multiple subsequent additions to the main central pre-revolutionary (i.e 18th century) styled –detailed, narrow orthogonal volume. Thus a design of a hierarchically ordered environment from the older most important ‘original’ core of the residence , to the additional terrace with masonry buttresses and western single-storey humble addition with a roof with a single slope, housing the hall and winter living room area as well as the additional wings of the entrance and secondary residence.
Materials: Black (deep gray) local stone of Vytina built with visible connecting mortar coloured orange-brown. As the properly placed stones in a horizontal position, are all (besides corner-stones) irregular, the coloured binding mortar though actually dense in cement presents a wall with warm overall appearance.
Hand-carved visible wood structure both in the exterior (chestnut wood), and in the interior (Pine & Cypress) Old hand crafted traditional roof tiles and old Maltese travertine floors. Simple rustic window shades, painted grey-green, and in the interior modern electromechanical installations – fixtures and slick modern finishes in contrast with the rough traditional masonry, natural crafted bearing wood and antique paving.