The restoration of this delightful village house has brought about the metamorphosis of a 200 year old village house into a cool and mellow holiday Villa bursting with original features and complimented by a private sparkling free form pool with dimensions of 6.7m x 3.4m and depth of 1.4m deepest and 0.60m shallowest.

The owners, Stamatis & Despina, have meticulously preserved many original features whilst giving them a fresh contemporary twist. Thus thick stone walls are left unadorned whilst plastered ones are given a delicate hint of colour; original decorative floor tiles see a second life as wall tiles in the kitchen; heavy beamed ceilings are painted white, basking the space below in light and modern understated classic furnishings and fittings reinforce the Villa's status in the present day and offer up to date comfort.

Pretty half glazed double doors open directly from the stone paved courtyard, where meals will usually be taken, into the sunny and well equipped kitchen/breakfast room, where wood stained cupboards are set under white marble worktops. Both bedrooms are also at this ground floor level, the twin bedroom and bathroom opening from a central hall and across the way, the double bedroom with an ensuite shower room, also with double doors opening onto the courtyard.

Climbing the staircase from the hall, the whole of the first floor is open up to its white painted eaves with uncluttered L shaped lengths of cushioned sofas. An open fireplace keeps everyone cosy, if the evenings are cool either end of the season. During the summer double doors can be thrown open onto a spacious balcony with stunning views down to the sea, sparkling in the distance. A galleried reading room, accessed via a short flight of open stairs overlooks the living room.

Outside, across the covered courtyard, a gate leads to a sunny garden, planted with herbs and scented flowering shrubs where the lovely free form pool is surrounded by paved sun terraces. There is also a small orchard of citrus and pomegranate trees where a vegetable patch yields a supply of home grown salad vegetables during the growing season to carry back to the kitchen.

The village itself, a peaceful backwater on the beautiful lower slopes of the White Mountains attracts the occasional tourist to its taverna serving traditional home cooking and to those, ‘in the know’, who come to admire the stunning Byzantine Church of Agia Nikolaos nestling at the bottom of a neighbouring valley. Kept locked, it's Roussa and Kosta, Despina's parents who are the key holders and will be very happy to take guests at Villa on a guided tour of its beautiful 13th centuries frescoes. The Church’s location and artwork is widely considered to be amongst the most beautiful on the island.

From this rural idyll it is a mere 15 mins drive to the sandy beaches of Kalives via the slightly larger neighbouring village of Stylos which offers more by way of shopping and tavernas and if you take your water bottles you can fill them up at the source of the bottled water of the same name - for gratis.

A lovely village location, amazing sea views and a short walk to a village taverna we consider makes Villa, worthy of appearing high in the top five of any Villa list for small families or couples.