Villa Artina

A Terraced Island Home with Deeply Personal Flair

Revealing stacked native stone iced by classic Cycladic whitewashing, this staggered oceanview villa is one woman’s dream home. Built across multiple levels, it offers unspoiled Aegean views from its terraces, waterfront pool landing, and unobstructed roof decks. The personal home of a French-Greek businesswoman and writer who left Paris to make Sifnos her permanent home, the villa grew from her imagination. Her dreamscape included painterly views of the water at every turn, and was broken up into multiple structures to avoid a single massive footprint. Cycladic architect Christina Dori turned dreams into reality by sculpting the waterfront incline into a five-bedroom home complex connected by the communal pool, terraces, stairs and pergolas.

Designed to mimic a Greek village, this villa for rent in Greece occupies a sizeable, terraced lot right on the rugged Aegean waterfront, offering majestic eastern views over Sifnos’ twelve neighboring islands. Blindingly white in classic Cycladic style, the four independent buildings also have landings and walls of exposed, stacked stones traditional to the region. 

The property’s steep, rugged terrain has been cleverly tamed, its slopes connected in a stair-stepped garden that combines landscaping with flagstone terraces. Draped and shaded pergolas run along the buildings, and double French doors across each of the independent structures create open-air breezeways between indoors and out. The home’s interiors tend toward the more traditional, breezily decorated in a blend of antiques and modern comforts, with easygoing organic additions cementing a sense of place.

AROUND

Perched on an expansive terraced lot overlooking the Aegean, this villa for rent in Greece is set apart from local communities on a rugged incline three kilometers from the town of Artemonas on the island of Sifnos. Considered an island jewel, the village is named for the Goddess Artemis and occupies a hilltop marked by two old windmills. Artemonas’ cobbled streets are striped by structures in classic blue and white and overhung with flaming bougainvillea. Local cooks prepare notable Greek pastries, and many of the town’s bakeries offer workshops teaching how to create these local specialties. Artemona even hosts an annual gastronomy festival showcasing its cuisine. 

A half-hour drive brings you to pristine sandy beaches backed by fragrant flowering shrubs. Further afield, a favorite beach is Fassolou, near the southern village of Faros, a sun-dappled stretch backed by cliffs with a view of the island’s Chrisopigi Monastery. Built in 1650 and reachable only by a tiny pedestrian bridge, it is considered the island’s protector. Kastro is the island’s ancient capital and an archeological center, and Apollonia is Sifnos’ modern-day heart, with nightlife, restaurants and tavernas. South of Apollonia, the vivid archeological site of Agios Andreas offers the adventurous a steep hike to its monumental crest.

LOCATION

Apollonia, Sifnos, Cyclades, Greece. Nearest airport: Athens (3 hours by ferry)

BEST TIME TO VISIT: Available May to October