‘Pretty much all of the old buildings in Symi have large underground cisterns to collect water during the rainy season and then use it sparingly over the rest of the year,’ Dan explains. ‘But the cistern was no longer functional, and the previous owner had a big plastic water tank at the back of the house. Of course, I wanted to bring it back into use.’ Today, thanks to a filtration system, the collected rainwater is also fully drinkable, removing the need for plastic bottles altogether.
In rethinking the layout, the former shop on the ground floor has been converted into self-contained accommodation for the numerous friends who come to visit, while the first floor is where Dan lives with his beloved dog Mimi. ‘She was a foster dog that I ended up adopting and bringing to Greece. She’s been on this adventure with me the whole way,’ he says. ‘Everyone knows Mimi here. Sometimes I make a reservation using her name – it’s very cute.’
WILL SLATER
A steep flight of stairs running along the side of the house leads to the avli, a little backyard that acts as a filter between the outside and the inside. Two small outbuildings, added by the previous owners, were reconfigured into a galley kitchen and a guest loo, while an old wooden door opens onto a narrow corridor-like hall around which the rest of the home unfolds.
Dan’s vision from the outset was to ‘keep the interiors very traditional, so that the house would still feel the same in 10, maybe 20, years’ time.’ Drawn to period furniture, he already owned many of the pieces that now furnish the rooms. Some waited decades before finally making the journey to Symi, such as the French brass and opaline chandelier in the living room. ‘I purchased it in Pennsylvania 25 years ago but never used it,’ he says. ‘When it finally went up, it was as if it had found the home it had been waiting for so long. People often think it was original to the house and that I worked the room around it.’
The four-posted bed is decorated with a green and Cream Antique Toile from the Marché aux Puces de Paris.
WILL SLATER