Neu dekorierte, traditionelle, Griechische Villa, mit Blick aufs Meer, 5 Acker

We left the UK about 20 years ago, and spent the next few years travelling Europe, looking for somewhere to put down roots. By 2002 it was clear that Greece was the place for us, and we have been here ever since.

We spent several years wandering around Europe, looking for the perfect spot. Once we narrowed our search to Greece, we then spent several years travelling all around the mainland, and several of the islands, trying to find exactly the right spot for us. Once we narrowed it down to the area around Kato Samiko, we spent months walking around the area, along the beach, up the mountains, around the lake etc, hunting out places for sale. All the while, we had a running joke about the perfect olive grove that we passed continually, but knew we could never buy, as it couldn't possibly be for sale. It had fabulous views, stone-built terraces, ancient olive trees, was close to the village but not in the village, and was in all ways exactly what we knew we wanted, but could never have. Owing to some rather strange luck, we now own exactly this piece of land, and we have no intention of ever leaving. For us, The Olive Farm is perfect, in every way.

What is special about The Olive Farm is actually the olive trees themselves - we have young slim trees of 20 years, big well-established trees of 100 years, and right outside the house is a huge, gnarled, gigantic tree of unknowable age. The house is squeezed in amongst them, giving you a wonderful sense of seclusion and privacy, whilst still having the ability to sit on the veranda and watch the sun set behind the island of Zakynthos, across the bay. The vast beach, the mountains behind the house, the forest, the village across the valley all help, but it is the olive trees and terraces that make this place so special. And this is what all our guests tell us too, so there must be something to it.