Renovating on Evia

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.