Avdos Olive House · autarkes kykladisches Refugium

Alone in an olive grove above the Aegean, on the wild west side of Tinos. Solar power, spring water, no neighbours in sight, and the hillside to yourself.

Completed in 2020 and designed by an architect, the house stands on the traces of the old farmhouse that was here before it. Made for two people who want to stop: wake to the sea, eat outside, sleep to nothing but wind and goat bells.

Eighteen minutes from the port. A car is essential; the last 300 m is a farm track.

Fifty-five square metres: one bedroom, one bathroom, and a long open kitchen and living room running the length of the house. A sofa bed and a floor mattress sleep two more, though the house is at its best with two.

A fire place, washing machine, an iron and board stowed under the bed, and coffee two ways — filter and Nespresso.

There is more room outside than in — a terrace to eat on, the rocks, and 2.340 sq.m of olive trees that are still worked.

The house runs on its own systems: electricity from solar panels, water from a spring on the land. Nothing is rationed, but nothing is limitless either — the kettle, the iron and the washing machine one at a time rather than all at once, and you will never notice it. Most guests tell us they stop thinking about it by the second day.

One thing worth knowing before you book: the water is heated by the sun, so in winter and early spring several grey days in a row mean a cooler shower.