( Credit : with kind permission from "Home Magazine", a Media 24 publication)
Much like you can't control the wind, you can't hurry a yacht – or a Greek builder…
This is the lesson that intrepid South African couple Henry Paine and Sally Kennedy, both avid sailors, learnt when they purchased a small piece of land on the island of Lesbos in Greece two years ago, and decided to renovate.
The property was surprisingly affordable at less than R1 million for a small doublestorey house on 1 700m2 of land. Although the dwelling was habitable, it was in poor condition, so the pair decided to renovate and rent it out as luxury accommodation when they aren't enjoying the space themselves. But dreaming of a renovation in Greece and actually pulling it off… that's a whole different bottle of ouzo.
When Henry met Sally in 2002, she was building a holiday home in Ballots Bay on the Garden Route, but conflict between her and the architect at the time almost landed them in court. Enter Henry, an awardwinning heritage architect who won Sally over with his patience and willingness to listen. By then she'd run out of money, so she offered Henry unlimited use of the house in lieu of payment and he accepted.
A few years later, while collaborating on her Saxonwold home, Henry discovered Sally's adventurous side. What tipped him off was a mad dash to Mumbai to buy miles of gold, emerald, red and lime silk for curtains.
"I thought it would be cheaper and I'd have an adventure at the same time!" Sally recalls. As it turns out, Henry was on the same page. He'd long had a dream of buying a yacht and sailing around the Mediterranean, and by then their creative partnership had blossomed into romance. In 2011, they went to Greece to buy a boat and ever since, they've spent at least three months of every year sailing wherever the wind blows them.
On the journey
In 2016, Henry and Sally found themselves in the Aegean Sea, where they moored their yacht Pegasus in friendly harbours and were often struck by a rare generosity. This quality, particular to the Greek people, is known as philoxenia, which means 'friend to the stranger'.
After a long sail one day, they moored in Plomari village but within minutes a terrible surge created by a strong wind forced them to up-anchor and flee. However, when they sailed into Plomari the following year, the weather was good and the sea tranquil – until an earthquake struck. "Pegasus shook like a cork in boiling water," Sally recalls. "The water rushed out of the harbour and then, like a tsunami, rushed back in again, almost depositing our boat on the quay. It was terrifying!"
That evening, they went to a small taverna buzzing with locals. "We were all 'high on the adrenalin' and our narrow escape from the wrath of Poseidon," adds Sally. "Shots of ouzo from people we'd never met before kept on appearing at our table. The atmosphere was amazing."
They were still in Plomari two weeks later...
Making a move
Luckily, Henry has a UK passport and amid Brexit fears that could possibly complicate the purchase of a property in Greece, the couple decided to invest in a home in 2017. Non-EU residents have several bureaucratic hoops to jump through, although it's not impossible.
"An estate agent showed us a few houses in Plomari that weren't quite right but then on one occasion pointed across the valley to a small farmhouse nestled in amongst olive trees and told us that it was coming on the market the following year," explains Sally. "It was small enough to be manageable on a tiny budget, so we came back the following year determined to buy it – but we were told that it had been sold. We were devastated! To our relief, the agent called us a few days later to let us know that it was available once again."
Inside, the house was "a higgledy-piggledy mess", as Sally puts it. The upper floor consisted of a passage and four very small rooms – each painted a different and very bright colour. "The downstairs area had served as a barn for animals and storage for farming implements," she says. "But Henry was inspired by the potential and over a glass of ouzo, or two, we decided we had to buy it." Sally and Henry were thrilled with their purchase but there were a few more surprises in store…
The property is small enough to be manageable on a tiny budget.
Sally
Not for the faint-hearted
The couple met a local English-speaking architect whom they liked. "We decided to appoint him as we knew we'd never be able to manage this project from South Africa with contractors who didn't speak English, use the internet or even read plans," says Sally.
"Construction began in October 2018 with the local architect hiring workmen on our behalf. But shortly after our arrival in April 2019, he fired the building team because they were so often absent from the site." But this wasn't the only curve ball… They would soon discover, for example, that the concrete roof of the annex on the south side of the house had been reinforced with parts of an old cast-iron bed and had to be rebuilt.
They also found that the beams in the cottage ceiling that had been given the all clear by a local engineer were, in fact, rotten. They had to replace the entire roof. November to March, just before Henry and Sally's arrival, also brought the highest rainfall in living memory, causing a large stone wall to collapse. On top of that, water leaked into the basement through the walls as the house was built right up against the hill. They had to dig out the hillside and install waterproofing with layers of rock fill.
Henry and Sally learnt the hard way that when you're told something will be done avrio ('tomorrow'), it could actually be days or weeks later. "After the previous team had been fired, new workmen arrived and, as before, very few could speak English," says Sally. "We also realised the architect wasn't focused on the job and hadn't looked at Henry's plans; in fact, he hardly visited the site. During the four months we were there, there were periods of up to five weeks when nobody came to the site!" Henry decided he would have to be hands-on.
In the end, they finished the job themselves with the help of their gardener and good friend Nikolaos Alatelis in the last three weeks of their stay.
On the décor
Sally had a clear idea of the look she was keen to create. "We wanted to achieve a simple Greek farmhouse aesthetic, but with a luxurious feel. Greece is so hot in summer and the house with its metre-thick walls is an oasis. We used mainly blues and greens to keep the space cool, fresh, light and airy.
"The original turquoise wooden floor upstairs was a good starting point: we were keen to retain something from the original house and decided to keep the floor, dings and all, and repaint it in a similar colour," says Sally. "We added neutral shades to this palette, including a light grey for the window seat cushions and a creamy-grey for the cupboards called Poseidon's Beard. We're still not sure if we chose it for the colour or the name!"
Sally was also inspired by the kikois produced by South African textile company Mungo; she used them to recover an antique Greek bench, as cushion covers and as hand towels. "I wanted to add 'zing' and decided on touches of lemonyellow early on. We didn't want our space to be glitzy in any way and only used linens and cottons, most of which we got from Natural Greek Fabrics."
Henry and Sally were also given many pieces of furniture and various items from the old house by the previous owner, including hand-woven rugs made by his mother about 80 years ago! "Incorporating these things helped to maintain the Greek feel and authenticity that we wanted," says Sally.
"We left the house as 'untouched' as possible but we did replace an aluminium door with a beautiful antique door we found at an old warehouse in the town of Mytilini. It was meticulously repaired by Plomari craftsmen. We agonised over this expensive purchase but now we regard it as an essential piece and a wonderful work of art."
The couple decided to call their beautiful home 'Philoxenia' – and the front door is indeed always open to friends and strangers alike.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BUYING FOREIGN PROPERTY
Investing in property in Europe will not necessarily lead to citizenship and the criteria for citizenship differs from country to country. Residency programmes (also known colloquially as a golden visa) in countries such as Greece, Portugal and Spain do, however, make it possible to live in Europe, and in certain cases to work and study.A South African (with only a South African passport) can buy property in most European countries, says head of Pam Golding International Chris Immelman, with Portugal currently being the most popular. "In Portugal, foreign banks will even grant loans to South Africans – and loans can be secured at a 1.5% interest rate!" The process of buying property in Portugal is quite similar to South Africa, with ownership secured by a title deed.
In Greece, for example, it's quite different, say Henry and Sally. "In our case, the deal was basically secured by a handshake, with no official offer to purchase," says Henry. Official contracts are only signed much later. The first step to purchasing property in Greece is to hire a real estate attorney and notary who will be responsible for performing due diligence and ensuring the protection of your interests in the transaction.
RESIDENCY VS CITIZENSHIP
Residency in the EU (a golden visa) can be obtained by investing in property in participating countries, with the size of the investment varying from country to country. The amount is €250 000 in Greece, €350 000 in Portugal and €500 000 in Spain. In Greece, a golden visa doesn't allow you to work in the country or elsewhere in the EU, while a Portuguese golden visa allows you to work, but only in Portugal. Both allow free movement between all Schengen countries. Residency may be subject to renewal and laws could change. There is no guarantee of citizenship. Once you have decided on a country, consult a country specialist to avoid pitfalls.
Citizenship is equivalent to a passport issued by the country in which you have invested. It cannot be taken away from you (unless obtained fraudulently) and gives you the same rights, security and benefits as the country's nationals. In Europe, you can obtain an EU passport in Malta and Cyprus, but the investments required are more complicated and significantly more expensive than the golden visa programme. In Malta, for example, citizenship will cost you €880 000.