A Tuscany-like stone detached house

A traditional stone house, with amazing forest view, designed for low maintenance costs

The detached stone holiday house is located in a small village in the countryside, in Kassandrino, Chalkidiki, Greece. The design of the residence is minimal, resembling the stone houses found in Tuscany. The iconic house, built on a hill, is surrounded by greenery, boasting incredible views towards a beautiful pine forest.

It is constructed entirely with the local natural Afitos stone, giving the house a distinct characteristic that allows it to blend harmoniously with the environment. Designed for a Greek family of 4, the house perfectly balances countryside living and comfort.

This beautiful stone house has become the ideal holiday getaway for this Greek family of 4, offering them carefree times of relaxation in nature.

It includes:

3 bedrooms (master bedroom, kids bedroom, guest room)
2 bathrooms
Kitchen
Living room & Dining room
Storeroom
Balcony
Barbeque
Garden

budget 140.000€
construction category Holiday House
plot of land/construction 4,025 m² / 152 m²
year of construction 2009
location Kassandrino, Chalkidiki
client A 4-member Greek family
architecture study energon constructions
services Planing, Managment, Development

Construction Quality Characteristics

The whole house, inside out, is constructed with elegantly hewn stones from the local area, Afitos Chalkidiki. We chose to get a big lump of the stone, allowing our skillful builders to hew the stone in a way that enabled the extraction of great beautiful pieces of stone, fitted together to shape a solid construction. We also used white cement and cotto tiles in different dimensions and textures.

Low Maintenance Costs: This stone house does not require extensive or expensive maintenance, as stone is incredibly durable to all weather conditions.
Energy Efficiency: The heat capacity of the stone as a building material is too high, keeping the building cool during the hot Greek summer and warm in the cold winter. Consequently, living in such a house construction can lead to a reduction in energy consumption.
Advanced Waterproof Insulation: Special waterproof insulation was applied to the roof, thus making the whole stone house resistant to water and mold.
Sustainability: As stone is a natural construction material and as the whole house is built with stone, this fact alone makes the house very environment-friendly.

Construction Planning & Designing

Taking into account the location and our client’s requirements, we have created a design that is simple yet strong, traditional yet modern. Our efforts focused on building a holiday house that will not only integrate with the surroundings and take the most out of the stunning forest view, but will also be functional and serve as the perfect gateway to a relaxing, carefree holiday in nature.

The design gives special attention to the view with the whole living room and master bedroom taking advantage of the breathtaking views. The kitchen separates from the living room with a stone arch, a beautiful characteristic that makes the interior more interesting and refined, but also gives a more casual and relaxed feel for a holiday house. The guest bedroom is placed at the other side of the master and kids bedrooms, allowing for everyone’s privacy.

Construction Challenges & Effective Solutions

Building a stone house requires highly specialised skills. But that wasn’t the problem for us at energon constructions, as we have expert builders that can hew and handle the stone suitably. The biggest challenge we had to face in the construction of this particular stone house was in fact getting to the actual site. As the location is on top of a hill in a rural area, the road to get there was pretty rugged, rocky and uneven. Another challenge was getting water and electricity as there was no water or electricity networks available at the site.

To overcome the complete lack of infrastructure, firstly, we improved the road conditions by paving the road with 3A gravel and other paving materials. In addition, we did extra construction work to get water and sewage pipes, as well as electricity cables all the way up to the site. We successfully managed to resolve those problems before we started building the house, so no valuable time was missed.

The whole holiday house is built of Afitos stone, a beautiful high quality durable stone that not only makes for a solid construction but it gives a unique, elegant and timeless characteristic to the house.