In the centre of Agios Georgios village, just a stone’s throw from the picturesque old fishing port, lies Villa Sunny. Surrounded by ancient olive trees, the villa is equally old: it was built back in 1800s , at an era when control of the island shifted every few years from the Venetians to the Ottomans and vice versa.
The founder of the Villa was the priest of the village, at that time the spiritual leader of the community, and over five gererations of our family kept improving it stone by stone.
The Venetian influence is evident on the stone arches called Kamares, found in the house as well as on the house’s exterior elements & overall architecture.
These unique historical and architectural characteristics made the task of rebuilding this house a real challenge: we felt we had the obligation to respect the property and history of our family without compromising our guests’ comfort.
The villa is made of the local white stone. This was a great advantage (providing among others, excellent heat insulation) but also presented some technical difficulties such as the reinforcements required for such a historical building.
We decided to keep some architectural details intact. Such as the handcarved stone external uneven staircases, the inlaid preserved wooden ceilings and the antique ceiling hook. We strongly believe these are unique architectural elements and give the villa its character.
Overall, this was not an easy task: for us it has been a 5-year full time project, involving many craftsmen .As of May 2015, a major renovation of Villa Sunny was completed.