View over Skopelos bay from the terrace wooden pergola
Residential — New-build
Three Stone Houses
Skopelos, Greece
ResidentialNew BuildSustainable
Overview
Three new homes perched over the harbour
Three new detached houses and landscaping, cut into a steep hillside site overlooking the town and main harbour of Skopelos Island, Greece. Built using local materials such as stone and sweet chestnut timber, with sustainable design including rainwater collection, heat pumps and solar thermal energy.
Views
The houses face north over the main harbour.
Site
The site sits high in woodland overlooking the town and main harbour
A key challenge was the relatively steep slope — a series of terraces have been cut to create access, private gardens and open views to the harbour
Hand-mixed plaster
The plaster to the internal walls is naturally breathable, helping improve indoor air quality and prevent the build up of mould or dampness.
This is because traditional lime plasters are hygroscopic, which helps to regulate internal humidity by absorbing high concentrations of moisture in the air, and then releasing this on dryer spells.
The plaster has been prepared in the traditional way on site by hand-mixing: 2 parts white marble dust, 1 part lime, and a small part white cement.
The marble dust is used as a filler, and sourced from waste material. Lime and gypsum have been used as binders in historical mortars since ancient times. The cement is used to help the mixture set, and includes limestone, clay and gypsum amongst its ingredients.
Being handmade plaster, throughout history in different regions others have experimented with ingredients such as rye flour, rice gluten, burnt gypsum, pork lard, curdled milk, fig juice, albumen, and malt to fatten the plaster, retard its setting and to regulate shrinking and cracking.
Exposed timber balconies and roofs are constructed from local sweet chestnut
The houses are cut into the hillside rock.
Landscaping and materials
Landscaping has been a major component of the project, creating terraces, access roads and paths to link the houses.
Traditional brick cornices, timber lintels and slate roofs reinforce the local character. The interiors mix traditional with modern.
Sustainability
The houses have been designed to ensure comfortable and energy-efficient interiors both during the excessive heat of the summer and during the cold winter months when it has been known to snow.
The excavation necessary to build on this steep site provides a natural earth shelter to the south elevation, where the sun is hottest, and an abundant supply of stone which is then worked by hand and re-used to clad the outside of the buildings and retaining walls.
Thick walls of over half a metre provide thermal mass through the use of the concrete frame and floor slabs, built to withstand seismic loads, alongside the stone cladding to the outside, as well as efficient insulation.
The site is off the water grid, therefore all rainwater is collected and stored in basement tanks for re-use.
In the summer, large north-facing windows open up to take advantage of prevailing winds, and high level cross-vents maximise natural ventilation.
In the winter, underfloor heating creates a comfortable environment, an air source heat pump minimises power consumption of the heating, and an efficient wood-burning fireplace can be used to boost the heat of the main living area.
Construction
A key challenge was the solid rock which lies beneath a thin layer of existing top soil.
1. The site is surveyed2. Rock core samples were drilled to check the structure of the ground below
3. Deep excavations were made into the rock to create underground water storage tanks4. The same stone excavated for the foundations is reworked by hand to clad the outside of the buildings and retaining walls
The primary structure is concrete, designed to withstand seismic loads
Some of the details are formed by hand — for example the ‘carrot’
In the clear night sky of Skopelos the stone houses sit within a dense canopy of stars
Questions about this project
What materials were used to build the Three Stone Houses?
The three houses use the actual stone from the site itself, excavated on site during construction, for the external walls and the retaining walls. They also use hand-worked slate for roofs and paving, and hand-worked sweet chestnut timber for all exposed structural and some joinery elements including balconies, pergolas, staircases and roof structures. Internal walls are finished in hand-mixed traditional lime plaster composed of white marble dust, lime, and a small amount of white cement. All these materials were selected for local availability, thermal performance, and long-term durability without chemical treatment. Due to the regulations covering seismic performance the primary structure is in reinforced concrete, in order to withstand earthquakes.
How was the steep hillside site handled?
Rather than cutting a single platform into the slope, the design creates a series of terraces at different levels. The lowest level accommodates vehicle access and parking. Intermediate terraces form private outdoor gardens, joined together by a meandering central stone-paved path. Stone retaining walls hold the terraces in place and are integral to the landscape design. Each house is individually angled to maximise views and to form a more natural composition in the landscape.
What is hygroscopic lime plaster and why was it used?
Traditional lime plaster is hygroscopic — it absorbs moisture from the air when humidity is high and releases it when conditions become drier. This natural moisture regulation improves indoor air quality, prevents mould accumulation, and reduces the need for mechanical ventilation. It was chosen for the Skopelos houses for its performance in a humid island climate and for its connection to the centuries-old tradition of lime plastering in Greek vernacular construction. The marble dust aggregate in the recipe is sourced from quarry waste.
Why was sweet chestnut used for the timber elements?
Sweet chestnut is naturally durable and highly resistant to rot and insect attack without any chemical treatment — a property that made it the timber of choice in traditional Greek construction and that is equally relevant today. It is locally abundant just across the water on Mount Athos, from where this is sourced. Thus its use limits the embodied carbon of standard imported timber and ensures the buildings read as genuinely of their place. Local carpenters had extensive experience working with it, and their craft knowledge informed several detailed design decisions during construction.
What makes these villas sustainable?
Sustainability is achieved not only through technology such as heat pumps and underfloor heating, but more importantly through traditional means. Thick stone walls provide thermal mass, naturally moderating temperatures. Roof overhangs shade openings and external paving from the summer sun. Hand-mixed lime plaster regulates internal humidity. Sweet chestnut timber requires no preservative treatment. Materials are sourced locally — stone, timber, slate — reducing embodied carbon from transport. The terraced landscape generally uses native planting requiring minimal irrigation once established. The traditional carrot chimney detail manages wind and rain in the exposed hillside position without mechanical systems.
