The dining room
Lower level, off the kitchen, with the gulf through the window.
The house
Stone outside, limestone light inside, and the gulf in every west-facing window.
Built into the hillside on three levels, so you come in at the middle and go down to eat and up to sleep. Everything that faces west faces the sea.
3Bedrooms
3Bathrooms
13 mPool, heated and cooled
On requestSleeps
Floor by floor
Three levels, in the order you use them.
01
Lower level
Kitchen and dining room, and the master bedroom with its own bathroom.
02
Ground level
Sitting room, a television lounge and a study area.
03
Upper floor
Two further bedrooms and a bathroom.
The rooms
What is actually here.
The kitchen
An island, an oven and enough room for two people to cook without arguing.
The sitting room
Ground level, with a wood burner for the cold end of the year.
The television lounge
A second sitting room, for when the film and the conversation want separate rooms.
The study
Two desks facing the window. A good deal of a book was written up here.
The master bedroom
Lower level, with its own bathroom and the sea to the west.
Upper bedroom, one
Under the pitched beams, with the morning on the hillside.
Upper bedroom, two
Twin beds under the beams, sharing the upstairs bathroom.
Bathrooms
Three of them, all with walk-in showers.
The detail
The things people ask.
The heat pump is the one worth paying attention to. It is what makes April and October as comfortable as August, and those are the two loveliest months on this coast.
- Pool
- 13 metres, infinity edge, heated and cooled
- Aspect
- West, panoramic, over Kalamitsi bay to Kardamyli
- Heating and cooling
- Heat pump throughout, so it works in April and October as well as August
- Outside
- Terraces on three levels, and a barbecue with dining
- Parking
- Off-road, inside the gate
- Security
- Gated entry with a security system
- Nearest village
- Kardamyli, about 10 minutes
- The writer's house
- About 10 minutes on foot
- Nearest airport
- Kalamata, about an hour
Plainly
What we would rather tell you now.
Four things that are true about the house. None of them is a problem if you know about it before you book, and all four are a problem if you find out on the Saturday.
- The house is high on the hillside, so you want a car. The walk down to the bay is lovely and the walk back up is a walk back up.
- The last part of the approach is a country lane. Any ordinary hire car manages it; a very low one will want taking slowly.
- It is a family home that is let, not a hotel. There is no reception desk and no one on site.
- Mobile signal is good. The wifi is the wifi of a Greek hillside, which is to say fine for a laptop and not for a video call you cannot miss.
Questions
Asked and answered.
How many bedrooms does Villa Helios have?
Three bedrooms and three bathrooms, over three levels. The master is on the lower level with its own bathroom; two further bedrooms and a bathroom are under the beams on the upper floor.
Is the pool heated?
Yes. The 13-metre infinity pool is both heated and cooled, which is why the house works as well in April and October as it does in August.
Does the house have air conditioning?
A heat pump runs throughout the house, heating it in spring and autumn and cooling it in summer.
How far is Villa Helios from Kardamyli?
About 10 minutes by car. Patrick Leigh Fermor's house at Kalamitsi is about 10 minutes on foot along the coast, and Kalamata airport is about an hour away.
Do you need a car at Villa Helios?
Yes. The house is high on the hillside above Kalamitsi bay, and there is no way to see the Mani without a car.