Renovating on Evia

Diary of a Renovator I | Diary of a Renovator II

Background

In March 2006 we visited our friends’ house on the island of Evia – an island we hadn’t previously heard of, despite several Greek island holidays. We’d always liked the Greek lifestyle; the people, the food & the climate and we wanted a future retirement home but had never quite found the right place. One thing we particularly wanted to avoid was the typical ex-pats’ life. Evia was so different – unspoiled, accessible, beautifully rugged, very Greek & exceptionally cheap. It didn’t take long to realise that it was the place we’d been looking for, for years.

We were interested in buying a ruin close to our friends’ house, but after some investigation it transpired that the paperwork wasn’t in place and it could have proved difficult and time-consuming. With so many properties available (and so many bargains) we decided to look for alternatives.

Our friends went to view another ruined house which had fabulous views and great potential – for just 45,000 euros. On their recommendation we agreed to buy it without seeing it for ourselves - this is obviously risky unless you’ve got complete trust in other people’s judgement! We instructed the lawyer and when we finally viewed the property we weren’t disappointed – we absolutely loved it.

Ownership was easily established & the topographico was quickly produced that showed all the boundaries. We gave Power of Attourney to the lawyer and had our first meeting with the architect. It was confirmed that the building, which was a traditional dwelling (about 100 years old) & currently housing a donkey & several chickens, could be restored & extended as we wanted.

November 2006

Shortly after transferring a 10% deposit, the lawyer telephoned to confirm that he was ready to sign the contract and with the final payment transferred, the house was ours. The process was remarkably easy – it’s really helpful to give power of attorney as long as long as you know you can trust the lawyer completely.

Easter 2007

We arrived back on Evia and collected our official documents from one of the usual places – the local supermarket! (all post to the village goes to one of the local tavernas). We had a further site meeting with the architect and discussed the size and layout of our dream Greek island home.

July 2007

We received some drawings through the post, with various layout options & suggestions, The visuals looked great – with the entire house & outdoor tearraces designed to get the maximum benefit of the stunning mountain views. The designs also took the colder months into account, with a winter living area, complete with open fire and a sheltered outdoor dining area.

We visited the island soon after, to finalise the designs (we probably visited more than necessary, but we has become regular visitors to Evia, for holidays with our friends – in fact we went there at every opportunity!).

We also visited some houses that our designers had worked on, one a renovation & one a new build – they were both terrific & very helpful in showing the skills of the team.

October 2007

The final design was agreed & costings presented at a meeting on the island. The costs were now much higher than we’d originally expected - but the work we now wanted doing was probably twice as much as we’d originally planned. We’ll still get a fantastic house for a fraction of the cost on other islands.

On 12 October work started on site and progress was very quick, with a bulldozer on site to create an access road and 2 parking areas. Within 2 weeks foundations had been dug, a floor lowered, a new concrete floor created and the sceptic tank was in place.

Next site visit planned January 2008 – watch this space!
The current schedule is for completion for October 2008.

November 2008

It’s been such a busy year in the UK that regular updates have been neglected. The most important lesson to learn from our renovating experience over the last 12 months is that if you’re not in a position to constantly oversee progress, you must choose your project management team carefully. Because our team, husband (project manager) and wife (architect and designer) had shown us houses they had worked on, and entertained us in both their Evia and Athens houses we could see that their tastes were very similar to ours and the quality of their work was high. This gave us the confidence to allow them to get on with the work knowing that we would like it, as it was only possible to discuss major design decisions due to time constraints. Minor items happened automatically. Thank Goodness for email!

We’ve been to Evia three times this year; the last time was exactly a year since the bulldozers moved in. The island continues to surprise us with its beauty and diversity. The original plan was for the house to be finished by now, but we’ve slowed progress deliberately – the Euro exchange rate has hit us somewhat – and we now reckon that the renovation costs in total will be 100,000 euros. Another delay was caused by Jacques, our project manager, damaging his back when he was working on the very heavy beams for the ceiling in the main living room. While he was recovering, the large timbers twisted, and so more had to be ordered – at no charge to us.

Nevertheless, when we were leaving in October, roofers were carefully fitting the traditional hand-trimmed stone slabs. The roof is now finished and the next stage is for all the doors and windows to be fitted – they’ ll be a mixture of aluminium for the modern extended area, and wood – both to be colour matched in the traditional Evia soft blue/grey. After much thought about heating systems, we decided that electric was the best option for controllability– particularly as nearly 30% of the electricity on the island is produced from wind, so also a green option. The system is a Spanish one – very stylish and each radiator can be controlled, which makes it cost-effective. This, together with the restoration of the fireplace in the main room, will make us comfy even on the coldest, snowiest day that you can get in Evia! Hot water will probably come from an external solar panel/cylinder, which can have an integral immersion heater if there’s no solar gain available.

There’s been the most remarkable transformation to the building. The position is stunning but we thought the finished house would be lovely but fairly small. But it’s not – somehow, an amazing silk purse has emerged from a sow’s ear (well, virtually a donkey shed)! Inevitably the costs have increased, but its finished value should be well in excess of these costs.

The expectation now is for everything to be completed by Easter 2009

November 2009

Another year has sped by - & the house is still not finished. As in 2008, this was mainly because of commitments in the UK & our deciding to slow things down in the hope of improvements in the exchange rate. But as near parity seems to be established, we're biting the bullet & have decided that there will be an Easter 2010 completion, come what may. The good news is that the euro building cost estimate made in 2007 is still on target.

We visited Evia in April this year to experience traditional Easter celebrations, when hundreds of people packed into our village for the midnight parade around the streets with the shrine from the beautiful church. During this visit we dealt with house issues that can't be done by email - the final colour & style of all the windows & shutters, the colour of the cement for pointing between the external wall stones on the old side & the details for all the flooring (we'd decided to tile the kitchen/diner, terrace & bathrooms & have floorboards in the other areas). We also took all the taps & fittings for the bathrooms & kitchen from the UK, as similar quality taps seemed more expensive in Greece. Progress so far in the house included the completion of the roof, stone terraces, first fix wiring & plumbing, & the wooden windows & door frames fitted.

The second visit of the year was two weeks ago in late October (wish it could be more!) & it was terrific to see that all the floors, with the exception of the bathrooms, had been finished. Also, the house had been painted white throughout, which highlighted the wonderful beamed ceiling in the main living room. We went to a local marble & limestone merchant to look at tiles for the bathrooms, & have decided to mix white limestone with black slate feature areas. We also looked at the local marble for the kitchen surfaces. It was very exciting to be at this stage after all this time - the house had gone from looking like a building site to a proper home.

Over the next couple of weeks, the house will be finally sealed when the large aluminium windows in the extension are fitted. These glass windows & patio doors are planned to maximise the impact of the views as soon as you get to the front entrance, & the internal wooden staircase will be fitted. We're still considering options for the hot water supply; the current thought being to fit the type of tube solar panels on the flat roof that can be installed horizontally, with an internal cylinder in the utility room below. We feel that the alternative choice of a traditional integral panels & cylinder unit could look a bit unsightly on what we think is a very smart flat roof!

All in all, the October visit was very rewarding - we could see that we’re definitely in the last stage of a journey which, although long, has been remarkably hassle-free.

October 2010

Finally - we've moved in!

After all this time, it was fantastic to actually be living in the house that used to be a pile of stones housing a donkey and chickens! We had a 2-week holiday in July, when we had a mega shopping session - Ikea for loads of kitchen essentials, LeRoy Merlin (B&Q-type shop) for door and shutter handles, uplighters and outside lights and Kotsovolos (just like Comet or Currys) for a kettle, toaster etc. These shops are right by Athens airport, so easy to get to from the island. We chose white goods from a local shop because we wanted easy after-sales support. And, most importantly, an electricity supply was finally connected. We had a fridge, lights, a bed and a kettle so we moved in for the last two nights of that holiday.

We went back again at the beginning of October, to an almost completed house. It looked stunning, and it took some time for it to sink in that it was really ours and not a magazine show house. From the start, the plan was to maximize the views from the house and that had worked perfectly. Our dream of lying in our bed looking straight out at the view had finally come true. We had our first party - a joint enterprise with neighbours; main course at theirs, pudding at ours - which was brilliant.

It's not properly furnished yet, but we've got enough from a recent house downsize in England, which will be shipped out in the new year.

Final jobs will be a pergola over the top terrace, a last coat of paint everywhere and then sorting out the garden.

It's a cliché, but this renovation really has been a journey. Looking now at the houses for renovation on this website, I'm much more aware of the potential to make a beautiful place, rather than just see a scary ruin. Some people may want to tackle a renovation themselves, which is perfectly do-able given the quality of local tradesmen but for us, although it cost more, using our architect/project manager team from start to finish meant that we could leave all of the bureaucracy and organisation to them.

And the more we get to know Evia, the better it gets. We can't wait to spend more time there.