This renovation concerns a country house in the coastal settlement of Kolymvari on the northern coast of Chania with the aim of modernizing it, continuing to have the same use. The residence was originally built, as a seaside holiday home for the family's summer vacations, in 1975. The area of the house at that time was two large winepresses of a local wine producer, built in 1890. The remaining walls that exist in the study area are the ruins of large warehouses and additional presses. The wall of the two presses were filled with brickwork creating the desired openings and a roof was installed. Essentially, the interior spaces of the residence were the day spaces and the rest of the spaces, living room, dining room, kitchen and toilet, were located in the outer courtyard, under the centuries-old vines.
READ MOREREAD LESS
In our study, the daytime areas were placed inside to meet modern needs (such as not having to go out at night to use the toilet or drink water), but we repeated these uses in the courtyard area, even enlarged , to encourage the user to live as the original family of the house used to live. A large dining room made of natural wood, an outdoor kitchen and living room were built outside, a BBQ was installed, and a garden with a sunbathing area and a bathroom was built in the adjacent area. External built-in showers were installed in both courtyard areas.
Inside, a kitchen, toilet, wood stove and fixed and mobile furniture were also installed. The existing wooden frames were restored. The stone was partially exposed, combined with marine plywood timbers and cement mortar on the floors, inside and outside in the courtyard. The masonry outside was chosen to remain without any intervention, discovering the time that has passed through the building. A wooden partition made of planks was constructed on the side facing the street in the central courtyard, with the possibility of sliding like a garage door and uniting the courtyard with the village alley opposite.