Amazing Renovation of a Crumbing Medieval Fortified Tower into an Attractive Guest House

The Tainaron Blue Retreat, an award-winning renovation of a 19th-century defensive tower on the Greek island of Mani, is owned by architect couple Kostas Zouvelos and Kassiani Theodorakakou. Their passion project was sensitively renovating the property from stone ruins into an authentic yet luxurious boutique inn.
They spent eight years converting their collapsing tower into a three-room guest house. The old structure underwent a renovation to ensure there would be as little visible alteration as possible. The swimming pool, patio, and terrace-solarium seamlessly blend into the structure's exterior space, giving the impression that the tower is rising right out of the rock upon which it is perched.
They reinforced the stone walls with kourasani, a traditional mortar made of cement, ceramic powder, lime, river sand, and Theraic soil. They changed the mortar color three times in an effort to ensure that the structure complemented its surroundings.
They had to reconstruct part of the tower because it was in disrepair. Half of the upper level was missing. They maintained the integrity of the original construction, with a footprint of 25 square meters and room on each level. They landscaped the exterior of the building, planting olive trees over 100 years old and giving visitors shade.
Tainaron Blue Retreat, positioned on the natural southern slope of Mount Taygetus, is the ideal illustration of the region's simple and basic defensive construction. Today, this medieval fortified tower, resists the passage of time and offers a fascinating journey into the past!
Chapters:
00:01 Introduction
9:10 Balcony
13:35 Bathroom
15:14 Earthquake zone
18:37 Kitchen
22:28 Family room
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