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A better
class of whitewash
Judging overseas property requires many
skills: the ability not to look disappointed when it rains in
a place where the sun is supposed to shine on at least 360 days
of the year, passing on those free baseball caps with developers'
logos and, most difficult of all, fixing a gracious rictus smile
when you catch that first glimpse of yet another derivative
"Spanish-style" house.
Many schemes, sadly, are not so much ground-breaking as mind-numbing.
They are unlikely to tap the soil in pioneering fashion while
developers cater for what they believe the market demands. Instead
of serving up a rich, 10-course meze, they dish out the property
equivalent of embarrassingly soggy fish 'n' chips. It is oh-so-rare
to find anything distinctive, to discover homes where original
thought results in bold contemporary design.
So you have to admire Duro Neachtain Developments, which snatched
the gold for best Cypriot villa from the "biggies"
on the island, Lanitis Developments and Pafilia Property Developers.
Bravely employing young Cypriot architect Andreas Vardas and
giving him free rein (sales director Declan McNaughton jokes
that Vardas interviewed the directors for his post, rather than
the other way round), the company is constructing small, innovative,
modernist schemes that draw on earlier architecture in the area.
"Many foreigners buy on price rather than quality and style,"
says Vardas. "We have a clear view of what we want to do.
We are building in a modern way, but using traditional materials
such as concrete, plaster and stone. Sometimes people say to
me, `Why not do this instead and you would sell a lot more.'
But we have a future, while the rest of these guys are like
Coca-Cola, with their expiry date on the bottle." |
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Award-winner Santorini
Villas, a development of 12 houses about 15 minutes' east of
Paphos, is certainly different from the run-of-the-mill pastiches
that have already spread over too many of Cyprus's hillsides
like a bad case of the measles. The three-bedroom houses with
pool were not only deemed terrific value at CY£125,000
(£148,000), but also very special in architectural terms.
The solid, modernist look has been softened by incorporating
slits in balconies and low, soft-grey walls at the fronts of
the houses. Vardas has drawn from the local vernacular where
possible, carefully adding more contemporary curves and small
windows to frame vistas of the sea and hills while avoiding
unnecessary heat during the summer months. "You cannot
always rely on the plans. When we started building, sometimes
it was better to alter the size of the windows, or move them
over a bit to capture the best views," he says.
The first-floor rooms feature higher than expected vaulted ceilings
and two naturally cross-ventilating balconies - one shaded and
one in the sun. Although ceiling fans and air-conditioning can
be switched on, Vardas's design is likely to keep the houses
pretty cool without clocking up large electricity bills. Most
refreshing of all, however, is the way he used design solutions
to hide the ghastly water tanks that are often perched on the
tops of houses on the island. His next projects with DND are
a small "carless" village (you can't take vehicles
into the centre) of houses built around internal courtyards
near Letchi, and luxurious, glass-fronted houses on the side
of a hill at the top of Peyia.
Why are the British interested in buying on Cyprus? In somewhat
xenophobic terms, they like to be somewhere where they can drive
on the right side of the road (ie, the left) and where the locals
speak the Queen's English. |
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The legal system is similar to the one at home, the flight
is only four hours and they don't even have to buy an adaptor
for the hair-straightener. It is hot, sunny and foreign --
but not alarmingly foreign.
With links dating back to 1914, when Cyprus was annexed by
Britain after more than 300 years of Ottoman rule, the island
retains many aspects of its crown colony past. And although
it has been independent since 1960, the marketing blurbs for
new developments here declare "you feel at home in Cyprus".
With Cyprus joining the European Union in the spring, this
should provide a more stable base for those wanting to buy
homes. However, swapping the Cyprus pound for the Euro could
push prices higher, with agents claiming capital appreciation
of about 20 per cent over the past 18 months in the Paphos
area. The average price of a two-bedroom apartment is CY£60,000
(£71,000) and CY£130,000 (£154,000) for
a three-bed villa. EU membership will change some rules, including
abolishing limits on how much a foreigner can own and allowing
them to rent property to earn income.
Written by: Cheryl Markosky
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