Cyclades Villa

How would you describe Cyclades Villa in a nutshell?

Cyclades Villa is a charming holiday rental home on Tinos Island, Greece, a quiet retreat and an ideal place if you are seeking a holiday away from the tourist crowds.

It’s a cubical building at first sight but with many soft curves inside and outside, if we translate it in the context of feelings it could be describes as a ‘coud de foudre’ with gentle caresses…

Why did you decide to rent the villa to holiday guests?

Sometimes life has many surprises, the decision was influenced again from my professional domain. It is like art: when my artists finish a work it takes them some time to feel ready to sell it, share it with someone else. As I renovated this house by myself, I took the place of the creator and I felt ready to share its beauty with complete strangers. So I broke the distance between birth and the freedom of sharing — a lovely feeling.

Tell us about the architecture and the renovation of the villa please.

The renovation was made with extreme respect to the materials and we kept everything as it was. It was important to respect, analyze and leave the details that existed — all those small but so wise mistakes that the anonymous architect of the time made in order to make everyday life more practical and useful. These mistakes make the Cycladic architecture so human.

How would you describe the style of Cyclades Villa?

Historically, Tinos is an island that was occupied by the Venetian nobility. As a result a tiny sense of bourgeois life and style remained from that time. That element was always visible in the living room decoration, which was the space most open to the social life of the house. Witness to this are the handmade carpets, the velvet on the sofa and etchings on the walls etc... So I would rather define it as eclectic rather than anything else.

The rooms in the private part of the holiday home were more simple, just with the essentials but always with some religious symbols such as crosses, an image of Madonna or Christ.

You’re an art dealer from Athens, what was your inspiration to buy a villa on Tinos Island and restore it?

It was an energy feeling like the one you feel in front of a piece of art that fascinates you. After years of experience I’ve learned to respect it and from the moment I felt it, I decided to buy it. It was a very quick decision considering that I saw the house only from the outside without entering it at all.

How would you describe the Cycladic lifestyle?

The real Cycladic life does not have a style, things are simple, human and real.

What has been the biggest reward about renting out Cyclades Villa to holiday guests?

For me the most important is that through this experience I get to meet people who share the same values and beauty. You finally understand that no matter who someone is or where he comes from, we all embrace the truth the same way and unify differences to make the world seem small…