The history of House Kastri
HISTORY OF HOUSE KASTRI
The history of House Kastri begins in 2010, the dreams of it years earlier. Pitkä ja perusteellinen hullaantuminen saareen, sen luontoon, ilmastoon, ihmisiin, ruokaan, sanalla sanoen koko pakettiin, johti hiljalleen enenevään oleskeluun saarella. And in time, the dream became a reality. A home of your own in Crete, in the Upper Village of Platanias, next to the church and in the middle of the local population, House Kastri was born. You can read more below, the story continues.
You too can enjoy the fruit of our Cretan madness. You too can rent an apartment in House Kastri for your holiday. Or even for a longer period, all year round
Why Crete?
Why Crete? We first landed on the island of Crete in the summer of 1986. It's that strange feeling when you step off the plane and you know immediately that this is THE place. Meren ja vuorten tuoksut, tunnelma, lämpö, mikä lie, sitä on yhtä vaikea määritellä kuin sitä, miksi jostain paikasta ei vaan pidä vaikkei mitään valittamista löytyisikään. It just felt like coming home to Crete. Unprecedented for me; until then I had thought that you don't need to go to the same place twice.
The plot of your dreams
Plot of Dreams, June 2008 The plot of land of the Athenian cousin of Vasilis in the upper village of Platanias, next to the church, had come up for sale and Vasilis had the right of first refusal. His money was tied up in an extension completed the previous year, but together we could "save" the plot and build a house on it. Pöytään lyötiin tarjous, ihan ohittamaton tarjous. In the morning I was taken to see the site and the landscape. I stood on the steps of the church and sighed, took a few pictures and sent them to Kim with the words above. For me, it was love at first sight; it's that if anything.
Buying a plot of land in Crete
Lawyers for the buyer and seller, an interpreter, a notary, a notary public, a procurator and numerous certificates, affidavits and papers. The deed of sale mentions, among other things, the pedigree and occupation of all the parties, the identity card numbers and who issued them and when (e.g. the Athens Police Department), the tax numbers of the parties concerned and who issued them (e.g. the State Treasury Office in Palio Faliro, Attica) and the names of the spouses.
Planning, choosing an architect and obtaining a building permit
After all the paperwork and drama, the design work could begin. The aim was to start construction at the end of October-November 2009, just after the tourist season. Oli arkkitehtejä, taiteilijoita ja elämäntaiteilijoita - vaikeita valintoja. Kun rakennuslupa laitettiin vireille, ihan kaikki piti olla suunniteltuna; rakenne-, vedet-, sähköt-, ilmastointi-, lämmitys, Ikkunan paikat, korkeudet, ovet avautumissuuntineen, huonekorkeudet ja vielä mahdolliset omat mieltymykset tulevassa kodissa, jopa ”jatkojalostus” mahdollisuus.
Brute construction
Projektin edetessä opin, että rakennuttajan läsnäolo rakennuksella on tuiki tarpeen, ainakin tässä tapauksessa kun urakoitsijoita oli useita. And it was nice to watch moment by moment, brick by brick, how the house is built. The first, biggest and most expensive, change was to the thickness of the building's base slab. In Crete, houses are built for earthquakes in the so-called on a floating slab. In other words, there are two base plates on which the load-bearing structures are built. The bottom one is 20cm thick and the top one at least 60 cm. the tiles are loose from each other and the house above during a possible earthquake moves as if it were a whole package. Maanjäristyskestävyys on sittemmin koeponnistettu.