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Project Name: Villa Mandra

Location: Mykonos

Date Completed: June 2019

Interior Designer: K-Studio 

Sitting on the ridge of the hill of Aleomandra in Mykonos yet almost entirely hidden from view, Villa Mandra looks straight out to sea and the sunset over the neighbouring island of Delos. A 6-bedroom holiday house built for a young, dynamic couple to enjoy with their family and friends, it celebrates its spectacular view from a grounded viewpoint blended into a sensitively landscaped, stone-walled garden that screens it from the road behind.

The house is built upon the idea of slow, laid-back summer living, and encourages mindful connection with family, friends and the freedom to exist peacefully in nature. Form follows emotion rather than function, as every space becomes another opportunity for rest, reflection and exploration.

To create a house that would allow guests to enjoy being outside throughout the day, the designers needed to filter the overwhelming intensity of the climate by providing shade and protection from the elements. Although the house needed to accommodate a large number of guests the team didn’t want to dominate the landscape with oversized volumes. Inspired by the humble complexity of the traditional island vernacular they reduced the architecture to 2 small traditionally whitewashed volumes and a third of stone dug from the site, built around a large ‘courtyard’ living area which is covered by an expansive but lightweight chestnut pergola. This courtyard becomes the focal point of the house, seamlessly connected to the living room and kitchen volumes and looking over the pool and gardens beyond. 

Key to the character of the house is the palette of traditional materials such as lime-wash, stone and wood that have been applied and engineered with contemporary techniques to create un-nostalgic architecture that bridges heritage and locality with contemporary life. Hand-built stone walls are sharply confident; traditionally rendered, round-edged volumes are perfectly flat and smooth. The customary chestnut pergola has been engineered to increase its structural integrity, to form a glue-lam beam lattice that sits lightly on the white volumes, shading and protecting the extensive courtyard beneath.