Sitting on the ridge of the hill in Mykonos yet almost entirely hidden from view, Luxury Villa Ivory looks straight out to sea and the sunset over the neighboring island of Delos. A 4-bedroom holiday house built to enjoy with family and friends, it celebrates its spectacular view from a grounded viewpoint blended into a sensitively landscaped, stone-walled garden that screens it from the road behind.
The house is built upon the idea of slow, laid-back summer living, and encourages mindful connection with family, friends and the freedom to exist peacefully in nature. Form follows emotion rather than function, as every space becomes another opportunity for rest, reflection and exploration.
Luxury Villa Ivory allows guests to enjoy being outside throughout the day and overwhelms the intensity of the climate by providing shade and protection from the elements. And although the villa can accommodate a large number of guests, the landscape is not dominated with oversized volumes. Inspired by the humble complexity of the traditional island vernacular, the architecture was reduced to ivory washed volumes, built around a large ‘courtyard’ living area which is covered by expansive but lightweight chestnut pergolas. This courtyard becomes the focal point of the house, seamlessly connected to the living room and kitchen volumes and looking over the main pool and gardens beyond. Beneath the main pool is the independent garden guest suite with a second private pool, separated for privacy and quietly enjoying the uninterrupted view over the lower garden to the sea. Their separation further reduces the overall impact of the house and cleanly divides social and private space.
Key to the character of the house is the palette of traditional materials such as lime-wash, stone and wood that have been applied and engineered with contemporary techniques to create un-nostalgic architecture that bridges heritage and locality with contemporary life. Hand-built stone walls are sharply confident; traditionally rendered, round-edged volumes are perfectly flat and smooth. The customary chestnut pergolas have been engineered to increase its structural integrity, to form a glue-lam beam lattice that sits lightly on the ivory volumes, shading and protecting the extensive courtyard beneath.
The simple ivory volumes, straight stone walls and light pergola planes sit comfortably in the Cycladic landscape and the efficiency of their layout, centered around the courtyard living space, streamlines daily life. Luxury Villa Ivory is informed by humble Cycladic tradition, enriched by natural materiality and inspired by contemporary summer living.
