Grove House

On the east coast of Peloponnese, overlooking a small, sheltered cove and surrounded by a landscape of olive groves, fruit orchards and vineyards, sits Grove House.

The villa is a country house immersed in its natural habitat and in keeping with the local vernacular. The character of the house is defined by the way that it retains its architectural heritage whilst redefining traditional boundaries between internal and external space.

A pitched roof of Byzantine terracotta tiles hovers above walls of caustic stone (which was taken from the ground during the excavation phase). These walls, through a carefully curated sequence of openings and interventions, choreograph a nuanced architectural experience of the expansive view over the landscape to the sea.

Following the undulating topography, volumes are broken up and stitched into the landscape as a dynamic variety of positive and negative spaces, each with their own particular relationship to their surroundings according to their use. In this sense the view, irresistibly commanding, plays an integral role in the narrative of the house without dominating it.

The scattered volumes create a variety of spatial conditions that animate the circulation through the house. From lofty, light and airy rooms directly connected to the landscape; to deeper, more enclosed space that offer privacy and respite from the heat of the day; to sheltered, semi-protected courtyards that act like mini-landscapes within the landscape. This complex rhythm of spatial qualities creates intrigue and is further enhanced by sensitive and authentically curated materiality that brings texture, light and atmosphere into the balance.