Initially there are two traditional Greek styles. One is stonework, the other is rendered.

Why do we love it? Perhaps it’s more than simply: it’s different. This is because a huge part of it is to do with texture. Texture is a property of an object; however, it does have properties of its own. It’s the distinctive physical composition or structure of something, especially with respect to the size, shape, and arrangement of its parts. The appearance and feel of a surface triggers certain types of emotions, or responses.

This the oldest style of Greek building originating from ... well, it’s been around forever, really and quite right too. I went to Athens in January and there are things there that are still in good shape after thousands of years. There is something really inviting about stonework that makes it more desirable than the ordinary concrete villa. This invariably makes it more expensive. Time and effort for building one is at least one and half times that of the ordinary However, building materials - the stone - are, in fact, rather cheap.

One of the rugby coaches in Paphos is a builder who specializes in stonework. Over a pint I found out that he is giving classes about how to build using stone; he now has students who come once a week from big developer-contractors who are building villa after villa, to the average Joe like me and you who want to put in an outdoor seating area next to a barbecue; my point being that stonework is for everyone - who wants it! If you want to change something to stonework in or out of your home, you can do it.

• What are the main characteristics on the outside of a stone house?

Long windows, typically from floor to ceiling are easy to build, a short sturdy lintel is easy to get hold of, and it lets maximum light in. You may have seen them in the old villages with the accompanying tall washboard shutters. If it is a really traditional house, a tiny cast iron balcony will sit just in front of the window. These can range from beautifully elaborate designs to the simple up-down style.

You can paint the outside. However, what you use must be controlled for the best effect:

• type
• colour
• texture

Eg. It is the law in Venice to paint the front of your house from a palette of carefully selected colours, and the type of paint you use - without giving you the option NOT to paint it. The quality of the paint is actually not up to scratch with the harsh humidity and salt water vapour, so it decays slightly and looks really old. (It decays so much that people need to repaint their house every few years). That is why Venice still looks the same after hundreds of years.

Luckily, over here it’s not so bad; you can paint your house pretty much whatever colour you like, and how often you like. A simple rule with going for an old look is to buy neutral blends, with hints of colour. Water the paint down for an even older look, and don’t apply it too thickly. If you imagine you were painting your house some 100 years ago you would buy a dirty white paint that you had to water down to be able to spread over your house. Note that you don’t have to paint the entire house either: leaving a section of nice stonework IS a pretty sight.

Old painted wood panels unevenly slot together with thin iron cast designs allowing for light to fall through. The best way to get one of these is to get an original. If an old abandoned house in the middle of nowhere has the prefect ones, go for it. It will take at least 5 years for someone to even notice that they are gone, let alone for them to do something about it - and then they probably won’t. The reason why I say go for it, is although it may be easy to make a wall look old, it is in fact much harder to make a piece of wood/iron look old - virtually impossible.

Stone is a good insulator; in the summer a cold drink left indoors will still be cold if it is in the shade. So promote circulation of air through your house by having specific windows/doors open. Downstairs, have North-facing windows open; if you can, build a pergola or plant an evergreen tree beside the back patio doors. Upstairs, open South-facing windows, with blinds or shutters blocking most of the sun. This way you will find your house is kept coolest in summer.

Final word

Try to incorporate outdoor and indoor together: have a dining area outside, a favourite reading spot by the tree, watch TV at night from the veranda, put small plants in old pots by the inside of doors as well as out. Put a shaped section of crazy paving down at the back that is level with the indoor floor; even extend that type of floor to the other. All of these things help you enjoy this specific lifestyle in any house you might have. The basic principal of stone houses is to have a building full of character that encourages the flow of people to move freely outside as well as in.

This is a fairly new style, being primarily used by the Orthodox Church in Greece. It helps preserve surfaces exposed to the elements. Due to its style of building the domes need an external skin to protect them; if a leak is sprung, a fault line becomes apparent in its structure which may in turn cause a collapse.

These buildings are painted in either strong or soft colours. Often, the positive area will be a light colour, but the negative - windows or doors - will be strong colour. You may have seen it: a bright yellow door in a white wall, or the bright blue window frame against a soft lilac wall.

Look around you. What are the main features that encompass your property?

Do you want to oppose these features? Choose complimentary colours, or merge with them; use various tones of similar colours with a hint of another colour. Standing out too much is not desirable most of the time; however, if it is done correctly it can look very good. It is a good idea to highlight certain aspects of the exterior of your house (only one or two things), since it is easy to visually confuse an onlooker with too many focal points.

It’s not only the colour of paint that you use. The texture of the surface you are painting needs some thought too. If it is the typical sand-blasted rough style, you may need to spritz the wall first to add a softer human element to it. Here is a link to help you out on how to do Wall Coverings. From here, you can create that rendered style similar to the hillside villas on the Greek coasts. Create something that you’ll be proud of and something that will last.

This is just one example of a solid style, you don’t have to follow it as strongly as I have presented it; it’s simply here to help you think and give you ideas. If you would like help with presenting your property don’t hesitate to ask for help. Email Andrea

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