Greek Villa

The aptly named Villa Ypsilon literally draws a Y on the landscape, and is built on an olive tree-covered hill facing the shimmering Foinikounda bay, about an hour and a half’s drive from the town of Kalamata (yes like the olive). But apart from its very Greek concept, the house consciously steers away from all the clichés associated with a typical holiday home in Greece.

Designed by LASSA architects the villa’s shape gently rises from the landscape as an extension of the land, with each of its three branches sloping to create a seamless transition from the ground to the rooftop, the latter covered with earth and easily accessible to the residents. Three external courtyards are carved out by the house’s main volume, creating a continuous promenade that offers differing degrees of privacy and natural settings: from the rooftop, residents can enjoy a 360-degree panorama of the olive groves, nearby mountains and the bay, while the south-facing living room and pool terrace frame the distant islands of Schiza and Sapientza, as they fade into the blue haze of the Mediterranean Sea. Despite its prominent location, Villa Ypsilon manages to remain discreetly embedded in the surrounding nature, achieving a perfect balance between architectural innovation and respect for its environment.