To imagine a Greek village is to see a collection of bright white buildings huddled against a hillside or cascading to the sea. Up close, these separate into individual dwellings or shops or inns, and walking among them, one truly enters into the spirit of wherever one finds oneself – Naoussa in Paros, perhaps, or Oia in Santorini. And it is natural, while tossing back a metaxa or sipping a glass of Vin Santo in a taverna, to dream of a slow-paced life in the sun. But a town dependent on tourists is only slow-paced for the tourist who has left a major city behind. In Greece, as in most places, serenity often rests, not in the wilderness but somewhat farther afield.
Perched high on a slope with vistas stretching to the sea, this earth-hugging home in the northern foothills of Crete’s Thrypti Mountains seems as elemental as the landscape around it. Designed by the Athens-based architecture firm, Block722, it combines a sophisticated program – home cinema, gym, a billiard room and bar area – with a deep respect for natural materials and craftsmanship. Situated to guarantee that every room offers a view, the property is firmly oriented to the outdoors, outfitted with spacious terraces and a swimming pool.
Breaking the structure into a constellation of small volumes, the firm minimized its impact on the landscape while creating a distinct sense of progression through the house. The living and dining area, for example, are arrayed over three levels. The kitchen offers immediate access to an outdoor eating area. The home’s kinship with the environment is evident the minute one steps into the open-air entryway, which is grounded by a water feature and overlooks a mature olive tree. Although it is spun from locally sourced wood and stone, the house doesn’t take its cue from the vernacular, but rather – according to the architects – from a minimalism that draws from Scandinavian and Japanese esthetics.
There is an austerity to the home, but it springs satisfyingly from the texture and hues of the natural materials. “Most of the materials were left in their natural state, in their original discolored colors, giving a relaxed look,” notes Executive Creative Director and co-founder Katja Margaritoglou. “Various woods, either smoked or treated with another natural process, give a darker touch.”
Basic, inasmuch as it defers to the wind and the sun and views that seem to go on forever, this home is wonderfully grounded, not simply because it is so companionably integrated into the landscape, but because of the warm minimalism that pervades its interiors. Although utterly comfortable, these rooms almost urge one to move, to get out, to engage with the world. Amply supportive of all we do when we return inside – dining, conversing, snoozing after a swim – they underscore life as it is lived, and in their singular recessiveness, telegraph the true power of architecture. And for all the sophistication of its design, this home captures, in its way, the sensibility of that great son of Crete, writer Nikos Kazantzakis, who understood, deeply, “how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else.”
Photography by Ana Santl.
Update, February 2024: “O Lofos” is a Gold Winner at the International Design Awards 2023 in Residential Interior Design/Houses – Single/Family Dwelling.
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