Greek property news

Mary - Glossa Skopelos

Sunday 31^st August 2008. Today for the first time I really understood the destructive power of Mother Nature. Yesterday, the air was thick, heavy and humid, the usual signs of an impending summer storm and at around 5am this morning a huge electrical storm hit Glossa Skopelos. We were woken up by thunder and lightening that snaked down over the sea and that seemed to shake the very foundations of our house. Then a warning church bell sounded out over the village. We went outside in the dawn light to see that lightening had struck the trees in the hilltop area above the villages of old Klima and Elios, the fire had taken hold, was bright orange, intense and was starting to burn down the mountain side.

A siren sounded and an announcement came over a tannoy, although we don’t speak Greek, we guessed it was telling people to stay in their houses or calling up people to help fight the fire. Fire engines raced to the scene of the fire and we could see after about an hour they had contained it, spreading now outwards rather than downwards towards the houses below. Thunder and lightening was still striking directly overhead as the fire was being brought under control.

After about another hour heavy rain finally came, raining solidly for about 5 hours, finishing off the work of the fire fighters in extinguishing the blaze to what is a now a smouldering pyre. Smoke still floats upwards towards the now calm and sunny sky. The time is now 3pm and the village has once again come back to life, the sounds of usual every day normality float upwards towards us, people going about their business, just another Sunday afternoon. And we’ve just found out that some of our neighbours even slept through it all!

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Roger Fox - Glossa Houses / Photograph by Jonathan -AGIH

Skopelos, the greenest Greek island, is a great island for holidays and year round peace and quiet.

There is a great range of property to choose from – you can have a tiny house big enough for two for around 65,000 Euros or a villa in three acres for 650,000 Euros and everything in between.

For most people the first decision is the budget and after that a choice of town or countryside. Some places offer the best of both. For example, Palio (old) Klima is a village of peace. It has no shops, tavernas or discos to disturb the quiet. It has beautiful old traditional stone built houses, lovingly restored starting from around 165,000 euro.

Despite the apparent isolation, it is only five minutes in the car or bus to Glossa or Elios for a good range of shops and tavernas. The bus stops at Palio Klima on its way to several lovely beaches including Kastani – where much of the filming for Mama Mia was done.

If you prefer the village or town life, there are bargains for renovation starting at 20,000 euro. Traditional old houses in Skopelos Town ready to live in go for 170,000 euro upwards.

Modern houses in the traditional style are fetching up to 450,000 Euros with their own pool.

Skopelos is easily reached by a short ferry hop from Skiathos, the nearest airport.

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By Roger Fox - Glossa Houses
The traditional one roomed cottage called a “kalivi” is a common feature of the Skopelos countryside. It is here that people stay for short periods whilst harvesting olives or almonds for example. Some are used more long term by goatherds. In recent years it has become easier to drive to the land daily and some kalivis have fallen out of use.

Within their single room, they usually have a good fireplace for cooking and heat and places to sleep. Some have a dedicated barbeque area outside as well. They make wonderful summer houses for you, your family and friends or to rent out on the open market.

They usually need a bathroom constructing, but happily this is a simple job. One issue that has to be addressed is water. 

Properties outside the main settlements usually have (or construct) a water tank which collects rainwater during the winter for use all year round. Provided the tank is of the right size, the ample winter rains will supply all your water needs. Some people supplement this with bottled water just for drinking. Some properties are suitable for boreholes to provide you with spring water. If your tank is new and hasn’t yet been filled by rain, you can get water delivered as long as the truck can get to the kalivi.

One of the great things about kalivis is that you can get restoration permits easily and cheaply and you can restore to the original foundation line. If you also want to build a new house on the property, the kalivi does not count against your building allowance.

Size matters

Without going into detail, if you buy a building plot inside a town plan, you can build up to 200 sq metres, provided you leave 30% open space. If you buy outside a plan, you must have a minimum of 4,000 sq metres to be allowed to build your 200 sq metres. In either case, the 200 sq metres is the total floor area of the building – e.g. 100 sq metres on each of two floors.

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By Jonathan - Angels Greek Island Homes

One of my favourite beaches on the south side of the Island is Milia (pronounced mille – yaa).

It is a very beautiful shingled beach which has a feeling of quietness at one end and is more vibrant at the other end. Many consider it to be the best beach on Skopelos Island. It reveals itself about half way on the main road from Skopelos Town to Glossa.

It offers shade in the morning and sun in the afternoon. I often spend the day lying on the beach, looking at the sea, reading a book, being lazy and dinking a cold beer. The best time of day for me is watching the sunset. Or sit on the rocks in the romantic moonlight with your partner.

The beach itself is long and gently curving with amazing clear water. It is surrounded by a forest of pine trees as they sweep to the edge of the land only stopped by the rocks at the waters edge.

Opposite the beach is the uninhabited Dassia Island which can be reached by boat.

How to get to Milia Beach.

Milia beach is just off the main road that runs the length of Skopelos Island. This road links Skopelos Town to Glossa. Along the way are all the popular south side beaches and villages of the island.

Milia Beach Skopelos is about half way – about 21 kilometres, a 30 minute bus ride from either Skopelos Town or Glossa.

The public bus stops at the Milia beach bus stop on the main road and the bus driver announces ‘mille-yaa. You then walk down the road through the natural pine tree forest to the beach. It takes about 10 minutes.

When you arrive at the bottom there is a family run tavern on the right that offers home cooked Greek food. Depending on the heat of the day, I like to order a Greek salad and an ice cold beer.

It is a short walk through the car park to the beach where in season you can hire deck chairs and umbrellas.

This beach does draw the crowds from June to the end of August.

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