The villa offers every modern convenience to optimise your comfort and enjoyment in this "home from home". Although traditional in design, its stone arches, lemony plastered walls and terracotta pantiled roof blending subtly into the surrounding environment, the villa offers every modern convenience, including English plumbing. The large open plan living area is exceptionally well furnished with contemporary white leather sofas of Italian design. The extendable dark wood dining table seats up to 10 in stylish elegance, whilst overhead the wooden ceiling soars to a height of over 5 metres.
Floors are tiled throughout. From the 7.5m lounge two sets of french windows lead out onto the arched covered dining terrace, the twin arches reflected in the azure blue pool which uniquely wraps itself around the house. A further set of patio doors leads out to the cool rear of the house where a shady garden awaits. The provision of these doors allows a cooling breeze to circulate through the house on even the hottest summer days, or can be closed and shuttered with fine linen curtains to make a cosy evening en-famille at the cooler ends of the season.
The ultra modern kitchen features imported Siemens and Whirlpool appliances all in brushed steel. The copious cupboards and extensive work surfaces are complemented by a large stainless steel pull-out larder unit with ample space for food storage for the hungriest family. The stainless steel Siemens dishwasher is all but silent in operation, topped by a 1 ½ bowl sink and vegetable preparation area. The kitchen has two large windows and is bathed in natural light. For evenings undercupboard light shines down from specially conceled panels and there are modern spotlights set into the ceiling above. The ceramic hob and fan assisted oven is topped by a state-of the-art Siemens extractor hood, the light of which elegantly fades when extinguished.
There are pale birch wooden doors to all units excepting three illuminated cabinets of smoked glass. The supersized stainless-steel fridge freezer with automatic ice maker and stainless-steel combination oven/microwave complete the ensemble. Equipped for the British holiday maker, the villa offers as standard an electric kettle, teapot, full set of (sharp) kitchen knives, a proper coffee maker for steaming filter coffee all day, and ample cutlery, crockery and kitchen equipment to cook everything from a snack to a 5 course meal. In short, all the extras one often struggles for in a holiday property.
Beyond the sitting area a hallway leads to the sienna tiled main bathroom with sunken corner bath, shower, toilet and mosaic tiled sink area. Cleverly concealed lighting set above an opaque panel in the bathroom ceiling lends this room a feeling of designer chic. To opposite sides of the bathroom are located the bedrooms.
Fed-up with squeezing round the edge of doorways and the end of beds in so many cramped properties we have stayed in in the past, we decided to provide the villa with 2 large bedrooms, with ample space for clothes storage in its spacious fitted wardrobes, and French windows that open fully against the walls blurring the distinction between inside and outside, and yet enabling the bedrooms to become a cosy retreat all year round, with full hard wood shutters allowing you to sleep in after a night's Greek dancing at the local taverna !
The master bedroom features kingsize double bed with imported posturepedic mattress with integral memory-foam topper. Floor to ceiling fitted wardrobes of beech and birch offer ample storage space to both bedrooms, with extra heaters, blankets, pillows and duvets enhancing winter comfort, whilst silent-operation fans augment the state-of-the art Samsung air conditioning units to each bedroom. The master bedroom features a stunning black and white fully tiled ensuite bathroom, with double sized shower, toilet and wash hand basin. The master bedroom overlooks the swimming pool - the reflection of which makes the ceiling sparkle with light when illuminated in the evenings. To the other side double patio doors open out onto a paved stone terrace perfect for sunbathing and overlooking the stunning views.
The second bedroom, over 6 metres in length, offers a combination of sleeping arrangements to render the villa suitable for almost every family configuration and party size. Imported pale wood bunk beds (again equipped with superior mattresses) house an extra trundle bed beneath, and an adjacent single bed enables adult couples or up to 4 children to be accommodated comfortably. Double French doors lead from this bedroom to its own patio, directly overlooking the magnificent White mountains.
A third bathroom at the living end of the house is reached from outside, offering shower and toilet facilities without going inside with wet or sandy feet. This third shower also offers the opportunity for everyone in the party to get ready to go out in the evening, or on rising in the morning, without the normal family queues or arguments! A fourth shower is adjacent to the pool.
A separate laundry area, conveniently situated near the bedrooms so you do not even have to carry clothes through the house, comprises a Bosch washing machine, full ironing board and iron, and external drying facilities. All towels for use inside the house, and all bedding, is provided and renewed by our housekeeper twice a week. All you have to bring are beach towels/towels for poolside use.
The villa has been built with year-round comfort in mind, comprising state-of-the-art Samsung remote-control air-conditioning as well as full central heating and double glazing in all rooms. There is a large modern fireplace for open fire, with log storage onsite. The TV, Playstation, DVD and hi-fi provide entertainment in winter evenings and the provision of an immersion heater ensures masses of piping hot water on the rare cloudy days when the solar isn't operating. Favourable longer term rates can be negotiated during the Winter season, particularly for those visitors not requiring the Maid service.
The villa offers the wonderful compromise of solitude and privacy whilst forming part of a group of 5 villas on the hillside, each set in its own grounds, so you won't feel too isolated and can seek company when you want to. The pine forest behind the villas is protected green belt and abounds with wild life - Cretan martens often scamper down from the cover of the trees to drink at the poolside in the evening. Immediately to the front of the villa there is a paved access road, receving only a handful of vehicles a day but making the villa easily accessible by car from all local routes. Below this, at the far side of the road, an olive grove rustles with rabbits hopping in the shade of the trees, wild almond and fig trees dot the boundary, and beyond there are magnificent views to the idyllic hilltop village of Douliana (where there is an outstanding traditional Cretan restaurant) and across to the blue waters of Souda Bay. Serendipitously the sun sets in this direction, flooding the skies with oranges and purples in full view of the villa, whilst you sip your Martini on the terraces. The area to both sides of the villa remains open land, in the spring speckled with cretan lilies, the tiny red Cretan tulip, wild lupins and vivid cerise native gladioli.
With so little man-made light in this area (the village lights twinkle at dusk in the settlement spread out below you) the night sky offers a stunning view of the Cosmos, with the Milky Way soaring overhead. To enhance your star gazing opportunities we have provided the villa with a telescope which can be easily set up on the roof terrace for a panoramic and uninterrupted view of the skies above you.
In summary, the villa offers you :
