Casa Antica

Old Stones Get an Award-Winning New Look

As its name indicates, Casa Antica goes back in time to create modern-day magic. Picture-book pretty, the 19th-century residence stands tall and polished, a blonde stone, tile-roofed, multi-level structure that was awarded a DOMES Best Built title for its exemplary reconstruction. The home expertly combines ancient masonry with lightweight steel elements inside, opening it up to vivid Grecian light and a sleek, contemporary design feel.

This award-winning villa for rent in Greece is that rare space where sturdy old stones meet harmoniously with modern, loft-like design elements. Here, the ancient has been made artfully new, and traditional elements, such as an upper-level balcony called a liakoto, take on a sleek modern look when made of metal.

Traditional Maniot buildings typically feature the thick masonry walls and small, deeply recessed windows that make up Casa Antica. These features have stood the test of time, though the home’s 2012 architectural update changed the ambience, filling the soaring space with steel staircases that create a wholly contemporary visual openness. This pairing of old and new earned the property the DOMES Best Built Project in Greece prize in 2013, an award that celebrates the ancient home’s zigzagging steel staircases and see-through, metal landing grills soaring upwards under an exposed wood-beamed ceiling. Throughout the bright renovation, steel girders hold up vaulted stone volumes and metal adds a modern touch, as in the balcony floating across its upper level, a reinterpretation of the traditional view space.

Outdoors, a large swimming pool and terrace fill a courtyard, and a diminutive Byzantine church stands picturesquely next door. Views out to sea and into the stone hamlet are particularly spectacular from the liakoto.

AROUND

This villa for rent in Greece is set inland from the coast on the Mani peninsula in a small settlement next to an ancient Byzantine church. The seaside village of Stoupa is a quick 1.5 kilometers away, with its unspoiled Kalogria Beach and lively waterfront taverns, bougainvillea-draped boutiques, and a distinctive rock cluster rising from the azure sea. 

Wild, rugged and remote, this is mountainous country, a land where craggy peaks descend to the sea creating sheer, cliff-backed bays and coves ideal for private swimming and splashing. The fishing village of Agios Nikolaos is walking distance from Stoupa, and offers a sweet harbor bobbing with stripey boats and lined with limestone buildings housing taverns and shops. 

Watersports such as kayaking, SUP, and swimming are obvious recreational choices in the area. Sightseers will love the picturesque village of Kardamyli (7km), a jasmine-filled, postcard-perfect stone fishing village with its crumbling Mourtzinos Castle, its 18th-century church with its towering 17m bell tower, and its fortified Old Town built into the mountainside. Dramatic gorges and off-the-beaten-track beaches are the area’s major draws, and for an urban adventure, the more populous Kalamata, city of olive fame, is an easy drive away.

LOCATION

Mani, Peloponnese, Greece. Nearest airport: Kalamata, Athens

BEST TIME TO VISIT: Year round