When a French couple decided to build their holiday home in Crete, some 500 metres from the village of Roustika, they turned to Athens based architect Natalia Kokosalaki for help.
Sat at the foot of the Lefka Ori Mountains, among idyllic olive groves, vineyards and herb bushes, the site had a lot to offer. Part of the clients' brief was for the design to respect this Cretan environment and ‘stand the test of time', explains the architect. Kokosalaki responded with flair, composing a complex that feels modern, but is also rooted to the local vernacular and the island's tradition.
‘At first we wrote a brief as if it was a first page of a summer novel, narrating a summer day in this imaginary Cretan house and its rural environment,' she says. ‘Simultaneously, it describes different areas of the house and the surrounding large garden and how could be enjoyed by the inhabitants on different hours of the day.'
A large arched entrance leads to an enclosed courtyard, in turn guiding the visitor to the generous, open plan living areas on the ground level – or a guest suite off the main house. Upstairs are a further four bedrooms.
Thick stone walls transform into staircases, terraces, an outdoor shower area and seating, while clean overall lines and the use of local materials (such as stone and ochre plaster) enhance the house's connection to the landscape around it. This was conceived as a calming, tactile environment, designed for rest and contemplation.
‘We wanted to create a typically Cretan dwelling: simple, distinguished and very proud,' says Kokosalaki. The house does not disappoint; it is a structure that feels contemporary but is also inherently of its place, nestled gently in its Greek countryside locale.
The exterior of the kokosalaki roustika house featuring tall arch entrance way, brown wood windows and doors and an outdoor swimming pool
INFORMATION
-
A new Oxford Street pop-up celebrates IKEA's blue bagsIKEA's iconic blue bag gets its own pop-up concept store, the 'Hus of Frakta'.
-
Audemars Piguet and Kaws have created the Royal Oak Concept watch we didn't know we neededThe Audemars Piguet x Kaws Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon 'Companion' is slick wrist-worn art
-
A friendly rivalry coloured by kinship: Wendy Maruyama and Tom Loeser on their two-artist show'I wanted to make furniture, just not traditional furniture, but weird furniture,' says Wendy Maruyama on ‘Colorama’, a two-artist show presented at design gallery Superhouse (until 11 January 2025)
-
A breezy Greek island retreat lets the outdoors inOpen to the elements, an island retreat in Corfu by Invisible Studio was designed to suit the local climate, using metal mesh screens rather than windows
-
A Corfu house balances local vernacular and 21st-century minimalismCorfu House, a sensitive and minimalist holiday home, has been recently completed on the Greek island as a collaboration between architects Tony Wynbourne, Georgios Apostolopoulos and engineer Makis Gisdakis
-
Piraeus Tower is a Greek high-rise icon revived through sustainable strategiesThe restoration of the Piraeus Tower is completed in Greece, revealing a revived façade by local architecture studio PILA
-
Remembering Alexandros Tombazis (1939-2024), and the Metabolist architecture of this 1970s eco-pioneerBack in September 2010 (W*138), we explored the legacy and history of Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, who this month celebrates his 80th birthday.
-
Tour House D in Athens, where interiors are peachy keenDesigned by Cometa Architects, House D in Athens is full of curvy, colourful character
-
Sun-drenched Los Angeles houses: modernism to minimalismFrom modernist residences to riveting renovations and new-build contemporary homes, we tour some of the finest Los Angeles houses under the Californian sun
-
Three Object Apartment embraces raw concrete honesty in the heart of AthensThree Object Apartment by DeMachinas is a raw concrete home in Athens, which confidently celebrates its modernist bones
-
Residence in Dionysos was conceived as a minimalist ‘cave refuge’ outside AthensResidence in Dionysos by Desypri & Misiaris Architecture is a family home designed as a minimalist refuge among the surrounding nature's pine tree-filled slopes
