Pnoēs Tinos describes itself as the first design holiday destination on the island. It stands at Lagkades, Agios Fokas, Tinos 84200, on a dry hillside above the sea with farmland behind it.
The house is three villas, each one the same as the other two, and nothing larger exists on the site. Each runs to 73 sqm indoors, 67 sqm outdoors, with two master bedrooms, both en suite, a shower and a bathtub, a double sink, an indoor living area with a fireplace and a kitchen sink with two portable hobs. One private pool with jacuzzi per villa opens onto a sun deck with loungers, and each villa has access to a private garden and a vegetable orchard. The built project measures 300 m². Design Hotels carries the house and describes it as a trio of Cycladic villas with private pools.
Earth, wind and water
The house sets out three elements it was drawn from. Earth is the protected habitat carved into the rock. Wind is the floating whitewashed cubic shape above it. Water surrounds the forms and reflects them.
The bedrooms are the earth half. They sit below ground, conceptually carved into the rock, hidden and unexposed, framing the scenery from the inside out instead of putting the room on show. Three whitewashed cubes stand over them, cut as plain geometry and set so that light, shade and the gaps between the volumes do the work; the practice took their shape from the island’s medieval villages. Wind moves through the open passages between them. Water runs round each villa and takes the reflection of the walls.
The materials hold the same line. The build is stone and lime wash against thin steel and wood detail, with wide openings cut for air, and the practice puts the values of Cycladic architecture into contemporary form by mixing traditional craft with modern technique. The dark-toned wood and metal cabinetry was built by local carpenters, the furniture was made to order, and the interior layout is set to the views.
The architect and the consultants
Aristides Dallas Architects drew the villas, and the practice holds the interiors as well as the architecture. Lighting went to CPLD Lighting Design, Christos Papachristos. The landscape went to Richard Gerritsen.
The garden and the kitchen
Richard Gerritsen’s landscape is built on permaculture principles. The grounds carry Mediterranean herbs, fruit trees, a tea garden and vegetable plots. The planting mixes species native to the island with older cultivated varieties, sets several crops to a bed, and worm hotels feed the soil.
Much of it is there to be eaten. Breakfast is complimentary, with local products alongside herbs and produce from the garden, and the house invites guests to meet the gardeners who keep the plots and to take the harvest. A chef on the property for in-villa dining is a stated intention rather than a service.
The same thinking runs through the rest of the house. It uses energy-saving appliances and lights, purifies waste water for irrigation, and keeps to ecological household and cleaning products. In the rooms it runs to organic cotton linen, natural toiletries and mattresses of natural fibres.
Local shops, restaurants and craft
The house works through standing arrangements with local shop owners and restaurateurs, and gives guests a selection of restaurants, bars, shops and leisure activities to discover. The objects, products and decor in the villas are local goods and local craft, and the house suggests a round of island stores and boutiques to the same end. Guests are pointed towards the traditional and modern craft that shapes Tinian culture. The outdoor hours matter as much as the rooms, and the house sets out the beaches, the hiking trails and the sunsets that go with them.
Who is this for
The house sets its hospitality on family and leisure, and it suits anyone who wants a quiet base on Tinos with the day shaped by the garden and the water. The pace is slow: a late start in the shaded outdoor dining area, a swim with the horizon in view, a glass of local wine on the veranda at dusk. The bathrooms are drawn from the hammam, smooth and continuous. Beaches and hiking trails are close by. A pillow menu and a wine list in the villa carry the small comforts.
