Home Sweet Home in Iraklitsa, Greece!!!

HELLO FAMILY & FRIENDS!!!
 
We have arrived to our new home in Iraklitsa, Greece (Iraklista is the next town right outside our previous home of Kavala, Greece only by a 15 minute drive)! And oh what a beautiful place it is for our family! We have spent since last October planning, designing, redesigning, drawing plans (my mother in law Therese should have been an architectural designer, her drawings are impecable), picking out materials, praying we could find materials in Greece, changing plans, stretching the skills of our contractors here to build things the American way, to build high tech outdoor kitchens and storage sheds, changing paint colors, picking out trees, fixtures, linens, etc etc etc!!! It has been an eight month adventure that has come to fruition and the fruit of all the labors is a home that is gorgeous, comfortable, modern, and an absolutely beautiful house we get to experience.
 
As Phil so beautiful put it....."I wish I could fold up this place, put it in my wallet and bring it home!"
 
No plan is ever achievable without the drivers, enforcers, workers that made this beautiful home possible. Nic & Therese took on the project like master Project Managers and made everything "we wanted" happen which sometimes takes a miracle in Greece!!! They did it with such heart and commitment and without them this gift, treasure and reward for our entire family would never have been possible!!!!! Now onto the house!!!!!! You have all been asking, well here is it!!!!
 
 
The Makrogiannis Home - Iraklitsa Greece
 
Typical Greek house with sliding front gate
 
We can pull 2 car into the front alley of house.
When kids want to play we just park on the street in front of the house.
(And yes, even in Greece we support Mossy Ford with our Ford Focus!)
 
View from end of patio towards the street where our neighbor
has full size sunflowers growing and we have mountain views.
 
This is the view from the front gate looking toward the
back of the house towards the outdoor kitchen and back patio.
 
As you enter the front gate we have a custom built storage shed built by
our very own carpenter which houses my 6 luggages and all our beach supplies
and I am sure many more things in the years to come!
It is fondly called Le Chalet.
 
Niko and Grandma Meme yesterday put in flower boxes and pretty window flowers.
 
We also had installed an outdoor shower....not sure anyone in Greece
is lucky enough to have a hair shower. We are pretty luxurious about our showers.
Our home is walking distance to the beach so the shower will come in handy!
 
The Front Door
It is opened with a key, no handles to pull down.
 
Patio & Outdoor Kitchen View
 
Patio View

Custom built table by Kavala Ironworker who went back into his father's catalogue
of designs of 50 years ago and custom built these chairs and table base. The table holds a
gorgeous piece of granite that is the same in our outdoor and indoor kitchen.
 
 
Our beautiful 35 year old Olive Tree and coffee corner table.
Plus the Grandparents favorite seat - swing chair.

Another view of coffee corner and swing chair.
 
The entire property is lined with trees and the tree beds are all lined
with White Marble rocks from our neighboring Thasos Island. Wish I
could fill a suitcase full of these white beauties. I will bring some home!!!
 
Entry view to our outdoor kitchen
Full size sink, Deep Fryer, Griddle, BBQ, Side Grill, refrigerator and
full size bar counter with bar stools. All super high end, now
we just have to figure out how to close up the kitchen while
we are gone so the Greeks don't come and take our state of the art outdoor
masterpiece! Designs in the works.

 

                                                               Inside Outdoor Kitchen view
                                                                      
                                     
                                               My absolute favorite furniture fixture outside.

  Custom Granite Table for 10!!!
 

 Coffee Corner under the old Olive Tree!!!
                                            35 years old to be exact! This tree came in via a
                                                    crane and was dropped into a giant hole!


 
                                                GOING INSIDE THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

                                     Inside view of our great room - living and dining room!
As many of you know me and my house in San Diego (all darker colors), this house
was a huge design leap for me! All light colors especially my favorite light color WHITE!
(Thanks to my inspiring designer Lone of www.lonemor.com)

Antique Wood Dining Table with white chairs!

Full size cabinets to store all our beautiful white things!!!

Two white chairs - I have wanted chairs like this since I was 22 years when
I bought my first furniture. Now that I have them I LOVE them, but we keep them
covered so that kids don't dirty them! They are definitely NOT kid friendly!!!


 
Indoor kitchen - Antique Stain custom cabinets built by our carpenter.
Beautiful granite countertops which my inlaws search endless to find what
I wanted! And we are so happy with house they turned out!

All high end appliances including our same Bosch dishwasher we have in the states!!!!
  
The upstairs veranda is HUGE! It is the kids play area. This is a photo of just one
side of the veranda. Each kid has a storage box for all their toys!!! They play everything
from crafts, play dough, puzzles, they lay on the lounges with their iTouches, etc. They have
access from their bedrooms - it's their own oasis!!!
 
I didn't photograph the bedrooms because beds were unmade. But the bedrooms have black furniture, and everything else light colored! It looks great!!! Overall we absolutely love love this Greek oasis. It is so comfortable, did I mention we have AC in every room!!!  We still can't believe we own this beautiful home! We will enjoy it for many many years to come!! We are so grateful to Nic & Therese for helping get this house done and ready for our little family!!!
 
As I type this blog post, the kids were playing 2-2 soccer in the front alley - yes we have World Cup fever with such amazing showings by our country teams Greece & Chile. We are sad they lost but so proud of their efforts! Phil went out and bought soccer goals which we have set up on either end of the front alley....it's like indoor soccer!!! Super fun! Now I've called them inside to play quietly while we have guests come over to visit and see the house!!!! Oh, did I mention we had fresh fish cooked on the BBQ!!! Finger licking goooooooooooooooood!!!! Nothing like fresh fish right off the grill! Plus a 5 hour visit to one of our favorite beaches with crystal blue warm waters!!!
 
So, am I inspiring you to come visit us in Greece?????????????
Big Greek Hugs to Everyone!
Filakia - Kisses
Val

Comments

  1. LoryJuly 14, 2014 at 1:08 PM

    Val! It all turned out beautiful! I call dibs on a visit next summer:)
    xoxoLory

    ReplyDelete

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