How to Live in a Greek Beach Village
Date: 11/11/2007
This 230-square-foot restored stone house with courtyard and separate bijou cottage in Eressos village costs $192,000.
Monday, Nov. 12, 2007
Lesbos, Greece
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I’m not making assumptions about her. And I hope she’s not making any about me. But Joanna has just given me a red carnation and said I’m her “date” for the day.
Female real estate agents don’t usually treat me to flower offerings. Then again, I’ve not visited the Greek island of Lesbos before. And we are in the lesbian summer haven of Skala Eressos.
Lesbos is Greece’s third largest island, but public transport is dire so I’m renting a car for $50 a day. It took three hours to drive 56 miles across the mountains to Skala Eressos. Roads are terrifying--but it beats paying some taxi shark $102.
Essentially a beach village, Skala Eressos hibernates between October and Easter. Greeks running businesses usually winter in Athens, Mytilini town, or the inland village of Eressos. Home to around 1,000 locals and 100 expats (not all gay women), Eressos is less than four miles from the coast.
With deep cherry-red shutters, Eressos has some lovely restored stone houses. Greeks tend to cover old stonework with ugly plaster. But seeing what foreigners have done, more locals are returning to the traditional look. One restored 70-square-meter (753-square-foot) stone village house with wooden ceilings and a bijou guest cottage in its courtyard is $182,000. In these parts, starting figure for small, unrestored stone houses is around $102,000, plus $95,000 for renovation. Plots that are almost half an acre within a village boundary start at $65,000 and building costs $1,163 per square meter (that’s $108 per square foot).
At the other end of the scale, a 1.25-acre property in the Eressos countryside with olive trees and three restored buildings is $654,000. Big price, but it offers all kinds of tourist potential.
Outside village boundaries, building a home requires at least a 1-acre plot. Now selling their immaculate village home (with immaculate garden) for $363,000, this is what two U.K. women are doing.
Co-owner Amanda spoke of some scary moments after their architect said an archaeological survey was needed. It sounds wonderful to live in a richly historic area, but expect lengthy delays if artifacts are found. They were lucky. None turned up.
Non-EU citizens can also expect extra bureaucracy. Due to proximity to Turkey, Lesbos is classed as a border zone. Americans and others need special permission from the Greek Defense Ministry to buy. Joanna says obtaining it takes around six months.
Steenie Harvey
Roving Europe Editor, International Living
Related articles:
- Six Things You Need to Know Before You Build on a Greek Island
- Hideaways You Don’t See in the Mainstream Press
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