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The sun going down over the Messenian gulf, seen along the length of the pool from the terrace.

Kalamitsi bay · Outer Mani, Messenia · Greece

Villa Helios

A house on the hillside above Kalamitsi bay, ten minutes from Kardamyli, with the whole Messenian gulf in front of it. Three bedrooms, a 13-metre heated pool, and no one between you and the family who own it.

The house

West facing,
and nothing in the way.

The house sits high on the hillside above Kalamitsi, looking west down the gulf. The terrace runs the length of it, the pool runs the length of the terrace, and at the far end the water stops and the sea carries on.

It is a family house that is let, not a hotel. You book a week, you talk to us, and the key is handed over by someone who knows which taverna is worth the drive this month.

3Bedrooms
3Bathrooms
13 mInfinity pool
On requestSleeps
The 13-metre infinity pool, looking down the bay towards Kardamyli.

The pool

Thirteen metres, heated and cooled.

Long enough to swim in properly rather than stand about in. Heated, so April and October work as well as August, and cooled, so August is bearable at three in the afternoon.

The infinity edge faces the islet off Kalamitsi and, beyond it, Taygetos falling into the sea. Most evenings the sun goes down somewhere along that line.

“A good deal of this book was written at a table on that terrace, and I recommend it without reservation.”

Mani and the Peloponnese, the TravelBlis guide to the region
The dining room, the table laid, the gulf through the window.

Inside

Three floors, three bathrooms

Kitchen and dining below with the master bedroom, the sitting room and a study in the middle, two more bedrooms under the beams at the top. A heat pump runs through all of it.

The rooms
Loungers and a parasol on the terrace above the pool, the gulf beyond.

Outside

Terraces, and a barbecue

Shade when you want it and sun when you do not. Dinner outside every night from May to October, and the kind of quiet where you hear goat bells on the hill behind.

The terrace
A pebble beach under the cliffs, ten minutes down the hill.

Down the hill

The bay, and the writer's house

Kalamitsi's pebble beach is below you, and Patrick Leigh Fermor's house is about 10 minutes on foot along the coast. Kardamyli is about 10 minutes by car.

The area

A look around

Eight of the forty.

The 13-metre infinity pool, looking down the bay towards Kardamyli.
The dining room, the table laid, the gulf through the window.
The sun setting behind the headland across the gulf.
The master bedroom, with its own bathroom and the sea to the west.
The islet off Kalamitsi with yachts at anchor in the clear water.
The sitting room, with the wood burner and the long sofa.
Parasols on the terrace, Kardamyli along the shore in the distance.
A pebble beach under the cliffs, ten minutes down the hill.

Where you are

The best stretch of coast in the Peloponnese, and not a secret.

Kardamyli is a working village with a harbour, a pebble beach and enough tavernas that one dark window never ruins an evening. Patrick Leigh Fermor built his house on the next bay and left it to the Benaki Museum; you can visit on a scheduled tour.

Two festivals fill the village in October, one for books and one for jazz, and both are worth building a week around. Kalamata airport is about an hour away.

How it works

Weeks, direct,
no booking fee.

We let the house ourselves. That means no platform commission on top of the rate, and it means you can ask a real question and get a real answer before you commit.

  1. 01

    Check the week

    The calendar is the only calendar. What it shows as free is free.

  2. 02

    Send an enquiry

    Name, email, the dates you want and anything you need to know. It reaches us, not an inbox in another country.

  3. 03

    Confirm by transfer

    A deposit by bank transfer holds the week, the balance is due before you travel, and no card details ever touch this site.