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Our Visitors
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Written by Claire Clarke
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Monday, 21 April 2008 |
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Legend would have it that Klaus was the first foreigner in Eressos about 39 years ago. He rented and later bought a traditional little cottage in the area of Fornisa where he lived with his japanese wife Chico.Just to add some colour to the story, Klaus was a magician and Chico was his glamourous assistant!
We first saw the cottage( forever refered to as "the Klaus haus" ) when Klaus decided to move to Turkey. We fell in love with the house instantly. It is picture postcard perfect, white with blue shutters in a beautiful private courtyard. We struck a deal there and then, met a lawyer to whom we gave a power of attorney, opened a bank account and secured a tax number before we left the island .Within 2 months the house was ours.
Only a few years later we arrived at the house to find the words " for sale please telephone" painted in english on the tumbledown house next door. Clearly put there for our benefit, so how could we resist! We met the owner who had inherited the property from his grandmother, and after only a little haggling we had agreed to buy property number 2. The house was a total wreck , with no roof and not much in the way of walls remaining.The owner, also a builder, drew up sketches for the renovation and gradually the renovation was completed over a couple of years.
The original plan was that the Klaus haus was for us and the house next door was for familly and friends. But something was missing, my vegetable patch! So we bought a piece of land opposite and thought that now the plan was complete. That is ,until we saw the "Gallinos house ".Set in a quiet area of the Cambos (valley) was this gorgeous ,imposing, house with outbuildings, set in its own orchard. It ticked all of the boxes under one roof.
Whilst the structure was sound, the interior needed total renovation; rewiring, replumbing, replastering and yet we were able to preserve the original features such as doors, wooden ceilings and floors. The project took almost a year but the quality of the workmanship was second to none.We even have central heating, which is only necessary for a few months of the year but a luxury none the less.
All of this has been made possible by the support and assistance of some trusted advisors, great friends and talented tradesmen (and their children who often act as translators).Oh yes and a great big dollop of trust ! |
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